--- description: Ten years ago Snohomish County considered emptying the neighborhood that was hit by a deadly mudslide last month title: Snohomish County Considered Buying Homes Destroyed by Mudslide image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0adbba5f6993227b/698688f155a859c651a801e1/rtr3jeiq.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # County Considered Buying Out Homes Destroyed by Mudslide by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2014 9:40 AM CUT  The search for the missing people after the deadly mudslide continues in Oso The search for the missing people after the deadly mudslide continues in Oso© Jason Redmond—Reuters by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2014 9:40 AM CUT In 2004, Snohomish County was so worried about the mudslide threat near the slope that collapsed last month that the county considered purchasing the properties to protect its citizens’ safety, The Seattle Times [reports.](http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023288058%5Fmudslidebuyoutxml.html "undefined") According to documents reviewed by the paper, the costs of buying out the neighborhood “would be significant, but would remove the risk to human life and structures.” The county instead opted for trying to stabilize the base of the slope and, after a mudslide in 2006, a wall was built to prevent a river from cutting into the base side of the hill, in an attempt to minimize the mudslide threat. Since the horrific mudslide near the small town of Oso in Snohomish County last month, questions have been raised about the county’s awareness of the threat. Thirty people were [killed](http://time.com/48397/death-toll-in-washington-mudslide-rises-to-30/ "undefined") by the mudslide, and 15 are still missing. \[[The Seattle Times](http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023288058%5Fmudslidebuyoutxml.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/49508/washington-mudslide-snohomish-county-homes-buyout/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/49508/washington-mudslide-snohomish-county-homes-buyout/"},"headline":"County Considered Buying Out Homes Destroyed by Mudslide","datePublished":"2014-04-04T09:40:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:08:16.398Z","description":"Snohomish County once considered buying out the properties in the Washington state neighborhood that was devastated by a massive mudslide last month that killed at least 30 people and led to a nearly two-week search for more than a dozen others","url":"https://time.com/49508/washington-mudslide-snohomish-county-homes-buyout/","keywords":["Washington","natural disaster","deaths","mudslide","destruction"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0adbba5f6993227b/698688f155a859c651a801e1/rtr3jeiq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Arrouas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michelle-arrouas/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0adbba5f6993227b/698688f155a859c651a801e1/rtr3jeiq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A piece of heavy equipment moves past an American flag as search work continues in the mud and debris from a massive mudslide that struck Oso near Darrington, Washington","caption":"A piece of heavy equipment moves past an American flag as search work continues in the mud and debris from a massive mudslide that struck Oso near Darrington, Washington","creditText":"© Jason Redmond—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/49508/washington-mudslide-snohomish-county-homes-buyout/","name":"County Considered Buying Out Homes Destroyed by Mudslide"}}]}] ```