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Area burned in wildfires hit by mudslides, flooding

TWISP, Wash. — When heavy rains hit Okanogan County, it rolled off hillsides blackened by wildfires.

Three mudslides hit Highway 153 between Carlton and Twisp. Part of that roadway has collapsed and there’s no estimate on when it will reopen.

The Okanagan County sheriff, Frank Rogers, said there were two to three structures damaged along state Route 153, as well as several cars.

A Carlton resident, David Sarazin said, “It’s pretty crazy.”

Shaula Zink pointed to the spot where her house was carried away by a slide.

“We’ve always felt safe here, nothing big has even hit this place in Methow, but I mean we’re not exempt. We just got a big butt kicking,” Zink said.

Bob Belgard and Janie Lewis were inside their house, when it was hit by a slide.

“All of a sudden, a wall of water probably as tall as I was came in,” Belgard said. He told Lewis to break a window to scramble to safety.

His truck is now sitting upside down, hundreds of feet away in the Methow River.

“I just kept saying to myself, how is this possible?” Belgard said.