Mudslide near Grand Junction

[Zach]

Mudslide was about an hour east of Grand Junction. 3 men missing.

Hope they find them alive and well. I saw CPW was assisting Mesa Cnty in the search.

Oak, you know any more info?

 

[Oak]

Amazing event. It doesn't sound good for the 3 guys who are missing. The slide is almost 2 miles wide at the head, and 4 miles long.

 

[Oak]

It's obvious how fast it came down by how it "slopped over" the ridge on the right.

 

[noharleyyet]

News reported 250' depths.

 

[arffdog875]

I heard it while I was at work last night, not sounding good for the 3 missing...Oak are you a pilot? Nice shot of the slide.

 

[Oak]

Oak are you a pilot? Nice shot of the slide.

Nope, copyright infringer....

 

[arffdog875]

Sweet! I think you have a new talent Oak!

 

[Zach]

Heard on the news tonight that the 3 men took a truck in with an ATV also, they were checking on something from a small slide(from what I gather from the news report) and then the larger slide happened.

They are talking miles of slide vs. the one in WA that measured in feet.

 

[EODRay]

I was just south of there with my son and friends this weekend doing some fishing, shooting and 3 Wheeling. Hope they find those guys but it doesn't look too good.

 

[jabber]

Nasty. Hope they find the guys alive.

 

[Zach]

Bad News.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...esumed-dead-2nd-mudslide-feared-near-collbran

 

[Dinkshooter]

What a mind boggling force of nature.

 

[elk_hunter]

Crazy. Is this something where the ground on the mountain just got so saturated with moisture (snow/rain?) and seeped down some distance into the soil that it made the ground unstable? Kinda makes a guy wonder if he should be watching for signs of this (if you even can) when out hunting.

 

[Hummer]

The Mesa County Sheriff has released video of the mudslide taken from a helicopter, and the news conference in which the Sheriff explains the situation and about the missing men. There is a well pad and tanks at the edge of the slide. This area will be volatile and dangerous for a long time. Water is building up within the slide area forming a lake, further saturating the soil so it will probably continue to flow into the valley. The site is about 3 miles from Vega Reservoir.

I've done wildlife and vegetation transects in that area. The north slope of the Grand Mesa is one of the most beautiful areas in the state with lush pastures fingering into forests of spruce, fir and aspen groves. I've thought it would be a fine place to build a home in retirement. Maybe not.

The men were investigating the interruption of water from an irrigation ditch. It's unlikely that any search for them will continue due to the danger and the futility. Imagine being caught in an avalanche of falling trees as the ground slips away, the mountain engulfs and buries everything. Looking at the massive slide I can't help but think of all the wildlife that was surely lost, too. Deer, elk, moose, and breeding birds by the thousands.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA-FAgp21Ds (video)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-elnk7IUiKg (video)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDFCEu3i7LM (video)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gTU4F040gE (video)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St4RRdWDJwU (Sheriff's News Conference, part 1)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5KzhHaQtuI (Sheriff's News Conference, part 2)


Here's a series of good photos of the slide with the Grand Mesa and surrounding area:

http://kdvr.com/2014/05/27/see-incre...unty-mudslide/


Also, another article describing the potential of the lake forming on the slide to flood the town of Collbran, and a video of a drone flight over the area:

http://www.dailycamera.com/popular/ci_25843794