Stillaguamish River Floods, Damage Assessment

For about the past month we have had some unusual and uncommon weather. A couple of weeks before Christmas we got colder than normal. This was followed by heavy snow which stayed around for over a week. Normal for us is brief wet snowstorms that last a couple of days. Well this time we got loads more snow in the city areas and very heavy snow in the Cascade Mountains. Just last week temperatures climbed higher than normal with freezing levels up over 7000’. This was then followed by intense rain….in some places over 10” of rain. All three mountain passes East bound were closed for by avalanches or threat of them. The heavy warm rain caused most of the rivers to overtop their banks. I-5 was closed for several days as it was completely flooded.

This weekend our Emergency Service group was asked for volunteers to assist the Red Cross. We volunteered with the Snohomish County Red Cross to do flood damage assessments along the Stillaguamish River (north of Seattle). This coastal river well overtopped its banks in several communities along it and the rural areas.

Saturday we worked the North side of the river.

The area where this car was parked got about 1-2 feet of water washing through. Notice how the wheels are on “dirt stilts”. Most of the gravel in driveways and along the roadway was washed away.







We worked the roads following the Stilly, a mixture of dairy farms, subsistence living, and nice homes. Our assignment was “Windshield Damage Assessment” meaning we were supposed to drive by and evaluate the type of structures affected, estimate water level in the living areas, and record other tidbits of information like the power on or off.

Because the water came up so fast, was relatively clean and receded rapidly, it was difficult to find clear water-lines on the structures. This was about the clearest example of a distinct water-line that we found.
This guy had about 6-12 inches of water in the living area and a couple feet or so in the garage.



The area really is appealing in many respects. There is a huge winter population of Snow Geese and plenty of Bald Eagles and other raptors.



Many of the residents have lived along the river for decades and took the flood in stride. Unfortunately many residents are somewhat new and seemed quite surprised by the whole thing. As if living on a flood plain never really seemed to be a risk.

This haystack snowman was sort of humorous standing in the middle of the flooded field.



One of the most significant problems we encountered was this creative flood “sandbagging” operation. The dairy used a berm of manure to stave off the flood. Unfortunately for them and their neighbor, manure does not have any “staying power” against the flow…..the only staying power it seemed to have was in the stench in the home just downriver from it.







Sunday we covered the South side of the Stilliquamish. This area was more heavily impacted then the north. We worked a community were every single house except the two at the highway were washed through to some degree. The fellow at the end of the road had 5’ of water in his garage and 36” in his living area. He still had water in the living area when we stopped.



This is just looking the other way from his house. The berm on the right is the levy of the Stilly. All the water on the left….as far as we could see on the cloudy day was not supposed to be there. We initially thought we were parked along the shore of Puget Sound rather than just the flood plain of the river. The levy, of course, just as easily prevented the standing water from leaving as it normally does in keeping the water in the river.




The Red Cross gave us landfill vouchers to hand out….a free load of junk to the dump. Everyone on this road who was out and about got vouchers from us as well as cleaning supplies (bucket, bleach, detergent, brooms and mop) if they looked like they needed them (and many did need them).



This fellow lost most of his gravel surrounding his house and was still squeegying water and muck out of his home. He took a broom/mop set with a smile on his mud-streaked face.




Our most valuable evaluation tool was a pair of binoculars and an excellent set of Thomas Guide maps.



We were tired both days and glad to get home to our dry but messy house.

This is the damage assessment vehicle…..



Felt good to offer our services.

Hi Schwert

Very good journalistic work about a rather sad matter. It seems that we have to get used to such happenings in our days.

Nevertheless, it’s good to see that there are always caring people about.

Best wishes to US
Pius

Hi Schwert

Great report, apart from a great service you guys provided to the community you also showed a great way of making that 1000D work for you. I hope you passed on your story to the local paper, I am sure they will grab it....

Thanks for sharing

Siegfried