Mudslide evacuee: ' I could have been one of the people gone'

DARRINGTON -- As the search efforts continue in the town of Oso, dozens of people who were forced from their homes are waiting to hear news about their loved ones and property they left behind.

A picture of her property is the closest Ruth Caesar has come to her home recently. The massive mudslide in Snohomish County demolished her neighbors houses and floodwaters from the nearby Stillaguamish river crept onto her land.

"We want to go back,” Ruth Caesar said. “We took our things out and tried our best to save our things that are important but there`s no knowing what we`re going to find if this is still up.”

The Caesars are still overwhelmed by the amount of destruction in their community caused by this powerful slide Saturday morning.

Dan Caesar said, "You could look down and see what had happened. No houses. No buildings. Everything is just gone. It`s incredible.”

Only some residents are allowed to go beyond road closures. Authorities are here to keep people out of harm’s way as the slide and flood continue to churn. The Caesars hope to get beyond that blockade today and salvage their belongings. They know they still have each other if nothing else.

"Yeah, we are very lucky,” Ruth said. “I was on the road at 8:30 in the morning driving in to Arlington so if i came in later I could have been one of the people gone.”

As they wait in Darrington with many others they continue to hope for good news.

"Our hearts are with them,” Ruth continued. “There`s a lot of people we met that we`ve never met before and all we can do is hug them and say a prayer for them you know.”