One Of The Worst Disasters In U.S. History Happened Right Here In Washington

Washington is certainly no stranger to disasters, natural and otherwise. From the Mt. St. Helens eruption to the deadly storm of 1972, we've had more than our share of scares here. But nothing can quite compare to the horror of the Wellington Avalanche of 1910, which was one of the country's greatest tragedies.

It all started in February of 1910 near Wellington, Washington, on what is now the Iron Goat Trail.

For 9 days at the end of February, Wellington was hit with a terrible blizzard. A foot of snow was falling nearly every hour, with a whopping 11 feet falling in one day.

During the horrible blizzard, two trains were trapped at the Wellington Depot.

Snow plows were sent to help, but they couldn't reach the trains due to the massive accumulation of snow.

Early in the morning of March 1, disaster struck.

Late on February 28, the snow was replaced with rain and wind. Lightening struck just after 1 AM, breaking a slab of snow loose. A 10 foot high mass of snow half a mile long fell toward Wellington.

The avalanche directly hit the railroad depot, sending the sleeping train passengers 150 feet downhill and into the Tye River valley.

96 people lost their lives in the avalanche, including 35 passengers, 58 Great Northern employees on the trains, and three railroad employees in the depot.

The 23 survivors were pulled from the wreckage by railroad employees who acted quickly and rushed over to help. But because of the horrible weather conditions, it took until the following July to retrieve all the bodies.

Wellington was eventually renamed Tye because of the unpleasant association with the name.

The avalanche was, by far, the deadliest in Washington's history.

The Wellington avalanche will never be forgotten. Unfortunately, life in Washington is not without its risks.