By Mark Leberfinger, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer
March 22,2014; 6:08PM,EDT
Heavy rains earlier this month may be to blame for Saturday's landslide in Washington that killed three people.
Two people died at the scene and a third person died at an area hospital, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said. Eight other people, including a 6-month-old infant, were rescued and hospitalized.
The landslide occurred about 10:45 a.m., PST on Washington Route 530 between Arlington and Darrington, Wash., and destroyed at least six homes.
In this image provided by the Washington State Patrol, debris is shown from a landslide Saturday, March 22, 2014, that killed at least three people and injured eight others between Arlington and Darrington, Wash.
The cause of the slide is believed to be ground water saturation from heavy rainfall in the area previously this month, sheriff's officials said.
"It sounds very realistic with all the rain earlier in the month. There hasn't been much precipitation in the last few days," AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said.
Everett, Wash., 31 miles southwest of Oso, the site of the landslide, had 5.64 inches of rain or 261 percent of normal, as of Friday, March 21, 2014.
The slide cut off the City of Darrington and blocked the North Fork of the Sillaguamish River. It was first reported to be at least 45 yards wide and 60 yards across.
The blockage at the Sillaquamish River has concerned sheriff's officials because of the threat of high impact, downstream flooding once the blockage is gone, according to the department's Twitter feed.
No evacuation orders had been issued as of late Saturday afternoon, local time, but Snohomish County officials urged people in the floodplain of the North Fork to seek high ground until at least dawn Sunday.
State, federal and county agencies responded to the scene. The Snohomish County Chapter of the American Red Cross opened a shelter in Arlington for affected residents.
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