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Obama To Visit Site Of Washington State Mudslide

Obama To Visit Site Of Washington State Mudslide
Reuters
President Barack Obama prepares to blow an air horn to start the Wounded Warrior Project?s Soldier Ride on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 17, 2014, in celebration of the seventh annual Soldier Ride. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama prepares to blow an air horn to start the Wounded Warrior Project?s Soldier Ride on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 17, 2014, in celebration of the seventh annual Soldier Ride. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) - The White House said President Barack Obama is due to meet with the families of victims of a deadly mudslide in Washington State on Tuesday afternoon before leaving for a four-country tour of Asia.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office said on Monday that 41 victims have been recovered from the slide that buried a river valley neighborhood in the Cascade mountain foothills last month.

A rain-soaked hillside collapsed above the north fork of the Stillaguamish River on March 22, unleashing a torrent of mud that swallowed up a stretch of a state highway and some three dozen homes on the outskirts of the tiny community of Oso.

Obama is due to deliver remarks after meeting with families of victims, emergency workers, and others involved in the recovery effort. The president signed an emergency declaration ordering U.S. government assistance to supplement state and local relief efforts in the aftermath of the mudslide and flooding.

Obama is due to visit Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Philippines over the next eight days. (Reporting By Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Before You Go

An intact house sits at left at the edge of the massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing is shown in this aerial photo
The massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing is shown in this aerial photo,
A house destroyed by the massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing is shown in this aerial photo
An intact house sits at left at the edge of the massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing is shown in this aerial photo
A Civil Air Patrol plane flies over the massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing as shown in this aerial photo
A house destroyed by the massive mudslide
Trees knocked down near the top of the massive mudslide
A Civil Air Patrol plane flies over the massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing as shown in this aerial photo
A house destroyed by the massive mudslide that killed at least eight people
An intact house sits at left at the edge of the massive mudslide
The massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing Saturday is shown from nearly directly above in this aerial photo
The blue-tarped roof of a house destroyed by the massive mudslide
The Stillaguamish River is shown backed up at left in this aerial photo
Houses and other structures are shown flooded by the backed-up Stillaguamish River up-river from the massive mudslide
An intact house is shown at right near where water from the Stillaguamish River is flowing around the edge of the massive mudslide
Emergency vehicles are shown parked on a road leading to the remains of a house destroyed by the massive mudslide
Debris from structures destroyed by the massive mudslide that killed at least eight people Saturday and left dozens missing is interspersed with downed trees in this aerial photo
A house destroyed by the massive mudslide that killed at least eight people and left dozens missing is shown in this aerial photo
This March 24, 2014 aerial photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey shows the extent and impacts from the mudslide near Arlington in northwest Washington state
This March 24, 2014 aerial photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey show the extent and impacts from the March 22 mudslide near Arlington in northwest Washington state.
This March 24, 2014 aerial photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey show the extent and impacts from the March 22 mudslide near Arlington in northwest Washington state.
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