Authorities in America’s Pacific Northwest have dramatically boosted the number of people believed to be missing in a giant mudslide north of Seattle.  After originally saying eighteen were unaccounted for, they now say as many as 108 people could be missing.

Eight people are confirmed dead after a massive wall of mud and muck, a kilometer and a half wide, washed down on a rural town north of Seattle.  Officials raised the number of missing after tallying individual reports, home occupancy in the affected area, and inquiries from families.  At least 25 homes were believed to have been occupied full-time, and there were mountain cabins in the area, too. 

“We are still holding out hope we are going to find people alive.  We are still in a rescue mode,” said Snohomish County Fire Chief Travis Hots.

It could be that many people simply were not home at the time of the mudslide.  Seth Jefferds is a volunteer firefighter who wasn’t home, but his wife and their 4-month old baby granddaughter were.

“He said it was just like a bulldozer ran over the house,” said his brother-in-law, Dale Petersen Petersen said.

Some people were rescued and flown by helicopter some 80 kilometers to the south to major hospitals in Seattle.  Among them are a 6-month-old baby boy and an 81-year-old man who were in critical condition in the intensive-care unit.