Bellingham Landslide Incident

Updated 1525 hours PT – Per the WSDOT: FINAL UPDATE 255PM: All NB lanes of I-5 in the City of Bellingham are OPEN following a 5AM slide. Our maintenance crews & geotechnical engineers worked with the City of Bellingham, Washington, Washington State Patrol, local first responders & tow to clear 2000 cubic yards of debris & get the I-5 back open.

Sunday, October 27, 2024, 1445 PT

Photo Credit: WSDOT (Photo as of 0730 hours)

WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON — Heavy rain fell over the Whatcom area, primarily in the City of Bellingham, onto the roadways, causing flooding and landslides. This was more rain than the area could handle.

One major incident occurred due to rain from an overflowing culvert. Heavy mud turned into a landslide on the northbound I-5 north of Iaowa Street, pushing a barrier into one of the southbound lanes. All northbound lanes were closed and still remain closed at the time of this update. A semi-truck driver with a trailer did not see the landslide in the middle of the freeway.

This occurred at 0453 hours PT and State Patrol and WSDOT IRT/Maintenance crew members began descending upon the scene. Heavy machinery, a tow truck, and other resources were brought in to help with the removal of the large commercial vehicle and mud, repositioning the barrier and working on cleanup.

The timeline of the incident:

0453 hours PT – Incident first update from WSDOT North is released to the public. States this may be an extended closure so avoid the area and seek alternate routes, if possible.

0730 hours PT – NB I-5, just north of Iowa Street in the City of Bellingham, Washington, remains closed as WSDOT crews work to clear the debris from the slide. There is also an impacted single lane on SB I-5 though it is not closed at this time. Over two inches of rain has fallen over the City of Bellingham.

0755 hours PT – NB I-5, remains closed in all lanes. Heavy machinery and personnel are on site with Geotechs are on order to assess the area where the landslide has occurred.

0915 hours PT – WSDOT: Crews continue working to clear debris from an earlier slide. About 2,000 cubic yards of debris spilled across lanes of I-5. No ETA was known or given as to when the roadways would be reopened. Officials were still telling drivers to seek alternate routes to go around this incident scene.

1015 hours PT – A specialty tow truck was called in to pull this big rig stuck in the mud out of a rut. Though Officials have been warning drivers to go around this area, it was said there was a three-mile backup on the freeway. The left lane of SB I-5 has reopened. The semi cab had to unhitch from the trailer & crews needed to remove the cab & trailer separately.(photo taken at 1215)

1300 Hours PT – Slow progress is being completed by WSDOT crews, now that the big rig has been towed out of the mud, some of the lanes look much better. KUDOS to all partners on this incident!

Photo(s) Credit: WSDOT

Incident Cooperators:

  • WSP
  • WSDOT

(c) 2024 NW Fire Blog