Notes from the Landslide

107
Landslide First Item At Assembly Meeting
Published by the Sitka Sentinel on Wednesday, 26 August 2015
By Shannon Haugland
Sentinel Staff Writers
The first regular meeting of the City and Borough Assembly since
the Aug. 18 landslide disaster began Tuesday night with a remembrance
of the three men who died, and expressions of gratitude for
the work and sacrifice of the professional and volunteer responders.
The Assembly meeting took place only hours after the body of William
Stortz was recovered from the south side of the slide on Kramer
Avenue. The remains of the other two victims, brothers Elmer
Diaz, 26, and Ulises Diaz, 25, were found in the first days after the
slide, and the intensive search to locate Stortz’ body had continued
every day since then except for two days of delay caused by rain.
Stortz was the city building official, and died in the line of duty.
Work at the Kramer slide was focused not only on the search for
Stortz, but on preventing further damage from the thousands of
tons of unstable material left at the foot of the 1,000-foot slide.
“The people of Sitka have been flat amazing,” said Fire Chief Dave
Miller. “They have gone far and above what I ever thought would
have been done.”