US President Barack Obama on Tuesday toured the area devastated by a mudslide a month ago in Washington state.

“We are not going anywhere. We’ll be here as long as it takes,” he vowed during the visit.

Obama took a helicopter ride over the town of Oso, which was buried when the side of a 1.5 kilometre, rain-drenched mountain gave way on March 22, killing at least 41 people.

He saw firsthand the site of the disaster, which destroyed dozens of homes, altered the path of the Stillaguamish River and covered a 2-kilometre section of a state highway with mud and debris, separating the towns of Arlington and Darrington, about 100 kilometres north of Seattle.

While flying over the debris field Obama got a glimpse of the ongoing search efforts observing bright-yellow excavators digging in the earth as part of the ongoing effort to recover the bodies of those who died.

All 41 victims have been identified, while two people remain missing list, according to Snohomish County officials.

“There are still families who are searching for loved ones,” Obama said. “There are families who lost everything. It’s gonna be a difficult road ahead for them, and that is why I wanted to come here.” He praised the work of emergency responders.

Obama met with families of victims in private and made remarks at the Oso Fire station.

The White House recently issued a federal disaster declaration making federal money available for people affected by the disaster.

The landslide followed a month of record-breaking rain in Washington, which borders Canada on the Pacific Coast.

No survivors have been located in the huge debris field since the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

After the President left Washington state he continued west on a week-long, four country trip to Asia.

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