Landslide and downed trees keeps Seattle Parks crews busy

SEATTLE — Seattle Parks and Recreation worked for more than seven hours, clearing a landslide on Burke-Gilman Trail Saturday.

“This is the first one we've had so far this season,” Scott Stevens, a senior engineer with Seattle Parks and Recreation, said.

Two large trees, bushes, mud, and dirt all came crashing down on the trail Saturday morning, with the perfect weather condition for a slide.

“The soil gets saturated. It can only absorb so much rain and then when you do get some wind activity, just made conditions right so it comes down,” Stevens said.

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The debris stopped before hitting homes below the trail and no one was hurt.

As crews cut branches and loaded up dump trucks, bicyclists and runners got rerouted.

“It’s pretty steep right so when it rains a lot and wind, you never know whether a tree will fall or not. I tend to not run when it's windy, I tend to wait until the storm is gone,” Lionel Mathelin, who was running on the trail, said.

The wind Saturday also whipped up the waves.

Jackie Horton sent KIRO 7 photos of waves crashing onto Redondo Beach Drive, in Des Moines, with the waves breaking over the roads.

At Alki Beach during high tide, waves also crested over the road, nearly hitting homes.

But the wind brought more trouble, than fun – it took down trees in Bellevue, blocking part of I-90.

South Kitsap saw much of the same, with wires and trees stopping traffic.

With more rain coming Sunday, some of it heavy, KIRO 7 asked Seattle Parks and Rec if trails could see another landslide

“Once you get an area that's oversaturated, there's always a risk that's going to come down. But they're very difficult to predict,” Stevens said.

Crews also taped off a down tree at Ravenna Park, which blocked a trail and snapped a log lining the path. Crews plan to remove that tree Sunday morning.

With that more rain forecasted Sunday, the National Weather Service is warning of an increased risk for landslides and possible flooding in areas.

Cox Media Group