I wish to thank Coast Mountain Culture for giving me the opportunity to tell this story in their Summer 2015 issue. They only had space for a couple hundred words, but I had a great deal of material and wanted to add to the story. Thank you for reading, and I appreciate you sharing this with friends, especially those in the Meltdown Family. Photos provided by Summer Meltdown.
The highway winds through dense Cascadian forest. Nahko and Medicine for the People, the weekend's opening headliner blares on the stereo. We are cruising to the 204 Summer Meltdown Music Festival, four days of music and positivity. Just as the dramatic glaciated peak of Mt. Whitehorse comes into view, the forest terminates in a mile wide swath of destruction.
At 10:37 a.m. on March 22, 2014, a massive landslide claimed a portion of the rural community of Oso, including the lives of 43 of its residents, resulting in the deadliest single landslide incident in United States history. The Governor declared a state of emergency and President Obama surveyed the damage from a helicopter. An extensive rescue and recovery effort ensued in conjunction with a deluge of community support.
We turn the music down and slowly drive past heavy machinery sorting through wreckage. It's a sobering preamble for four days of festivities.
The highway winds through dense Cascadian forest. Nahko and Medicine for the People, the weekend's opening headliner blares on the stereo. We are cruising to the 204 Summer Meltdown Music Festival, four days of music and positivity. Just as the dramatic glaciated peak of Mt. Whitehorse comes into view, the forest terminates in a mile wide swath of destruction.
At 10:37 a.m. on March 22, 2014, a massive landslide claimed a portion of the rural community of Oso, including the lives of 43 of its residents, resulting in the deadliest single landslide incident in United States history. The Governor declared a state of emergency and President Obama surveyed the damage from a helicopter. An extensive rescue and recovery effort ensued in conjunction with a deluge of community support.
We turn the music down and slowly drive past heavy machinery sorting through wreckage. It's a sobering preamble for four days of festivities.