Our Community Responds! A Personal Story.

A typical Snohomish County search and rescue hoist operation

Dear Friends,

Last week I asked you (pretty please) to help me promote all the good things we have in downtown Everett. Sharing my notes and encouraging your friends to subscribe helps. You did it, and the community responded. Thank you! I am gReAtFuL. Keep up the great work!

Allow me to go a bit off topic today and share a personal story. The epic mudslide in Oso, Washington on Sat., March 22 has affected many of you. It's overtaken most of my attention for the past 12 days. In a world where negativity can take over the news, there is hope and light in the community response.

Some of you know that my husband Bill is the Chief Pilot for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office. He performs search and rescue missions, usually in the mountains. His crew rescues lost hikers and people with broken bones. Yes, sometimes they recover bodies of people who have unfortunately lost their lives.

Bill Quistorf, Chief Pilot

This time, though, Bill is dealing with the largest catastrophe in his 14-year career with the department. People in Oso were not prepared for what happened to them in the tragedy; they were blind-sided. Bill saw first-hand within an hour the enormous scope of the slide. "The size of the debris field is unbelievable!" he said. He described the slide area as a square mile large. Then it dawned on me: this was not the small, innocuous vision I pictured when I heard "mudslide.

"Where there had been a forest and a housing development, I saw nothing except sand and silt." There was no remnant of anything man-made, he said. "Not a piece of lumber or roof shingle or plastic, clothing, or anything." Everything was covered in mud. "The ground looked pretty much like a barren moonscape," he told me.

A victim covered in mud is rescued by a Snohomish County Search and Rescue crew member.

That terrible first day, Bill directed air traffic from overhead in a helicopter. He also conducted low level visual searches looking for trapped victims. "I was hovering at one foot off the ground," he said.

Later Bill and his tactical flight officer used an infared thermal imaging camera to search the area. They flew back and forth in a grid pattern. "We were looking for any heat sources," he said. All they found was a dog in the bushes and uninjured people who were conducting searches.

A few days in, I knew Bill was operating on adrenaline. He would come home late at night, and he was up and gone by early morning. One night he slept for one hour. More often he got four hours sleep. He lost his appetite. It was only a matter of time until he could no longer continue working at that pace. Soon he grounded himself and began directing air operations from an office.

Finally Bill had a day off yesterday, and he's taking another day today.

"Our main mission now is standby rescue duty for the ground searchers combing through the debris piles trying to locate victims," he said.

Bill and I are in awe of the volunteer response, dedication, and commitment to the search and rescue mission. The mission could not continue without the volunteers.

Recently the federal government cut funding for the Search and Rescue helicopter team. If you would like to donate to the cause visit the Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team website here.  Further, buy tickets for and attend the benefit dinner/auction on Sat., April 19. Find out more about the auction here.

I'm glad I'm a part of a community who cares and responds when there is a need. Aren't you? Thank you for allowing me to go off topic today and share how the slide has affected my husband and I. How has the slide affected you?

Next time, new clothing photos. Promise.

Sending love,

Renee