By Noah Foster-Koth
Forty-three Washington residents were killed on March 22nd 2014, when a massive mudslide struck Oso, a small town in Snohomish County. Twelve months later, hundreds of Washingtonians gathered for a memorial ceremony on Highway 530, in honor of the Oso residents who lost their lives in the disaster.
Most of the students approached by The Roosevelt News declined to comment on their recollections of the Oso mudslide. However, two senior girls were willing to describe what they remembered of the event and expressed their opinions on how the Roosevelt community should pay tribute to the victims.
“I remember seeing a whole bunch of things in the paper. There was a bunch of deaths. People were putting together search parties,” remembers senior Nicole Miller, “A couple of my co-workers had close family members in Oso at the time. My co-workers drove up there to see their friends, who were fine,” she adds. Miller did not have family in Oso at the time of the landslide.
Senior Emily Tennyson doesn’t have a personal connection to the Oso community, but she still considers the mudslide “a travesty.” Tennyson believes that plaques should be installed for the victims, and a monument should be constructed “to pay tribute to those who were lost.”Miller agrees that there should be some type of memorial in recognition of the Oso residents who were buried in the mudslide. “It would be a real shame if nobody acknowledged it. I think Mr. Vance should have a moment of silence over the announcements.”
