The Perils of Pineapple
Seasonal storms bring devastating floods to the Pacific Northwest
In most northern communities of the US, a warm day or two during November or the following winter months is greeted with glee and relief, but there are certain weather conditions that can cause havoc, especially in the part of the country near Seattle and Mount Rainier. The kindly warmth comes from Hawaii and brings an abundance of rain with it, rain that will even fall as rain on snow-covered slopes in the mountain ranges. The immediate appeal of what is known as “the Pineapple Express” fades quickly when the heavy rainfall increases the runoff into rivers and melts snow at the lower mountain altitudes to give even more rushing water.
In early November 2006, the Pineapple Express visited Washington, especially Mount Rainier National Park and King County. (Earlier in the year, there had been unusually intense rainstorms in parts of Alaska, which were attributed to the Pineapple Express.) Rain fell at the rate of several inches per day. On the first Sunday of November, Mount Rainier National Park received more than 7 inches of rain and another 10 inches on the following day. The rivers in the park looked like angry torrents of cold cocoa, carrying mud, rocks, and trees in a flood that was out of control and seeking new areas to attack. Roads and campgrounds were threatened; some were destroyed. At the Nisqually Entrance to Paradise, people were turned back and the main park road was closed. There were rocks cascading onto Highway 123; that was closed, too. The greatest concern was for the safety of visitors and workers. “We want to prevent visitors from getting trapped inside the park,” noted Dave Uberagua, superintendent. “The road is vulnerable to washouts in several key places, and there is only one way out.” Employees of Mount Rainier National Park working at Longmire were advised to leave the park while the roads were still passable. How inaccessible had the park become? Doug Williams, an employee of the King County, WA, communications department, says that access was impossible even to people like himself who often go hiking there and know the trails well. Just after the more than 17 inches of rain with rivers described as a “churning mass of mud, trees, and rocks,” Uberagua reinforced that the top priority was safety for people, including employees. “Our focus right now is on the safety and well-being of our employees,” he said. “Once the storm is passed we will be able to assess the damage and begin the work needed to reopen the park to visitors.”
Governor Chris Gregoire proclaimed a state of emergency quickly (on November 6) for 18 counties. The counties were Whatcom, Thurston, Skagit, Pacific, Mason, Kitsap, Jefferson, Cowlitz, Clallam, Chelan, Wahkiakum, Snohomish, Pierce (where Mount Rainer is located), Okanogan, Lewis, Grays Harbor, Clark, and (the biggest) King. “Flooding has already caused extensive damage,” noted the governor. “Landslides and high winds pose additional threats.” In Pierce County, two weeks after the initial rainstorm, the county’s Department of Emergency Management released its preliminary assessment of the damage. At least 175 residential properties and nine businesses were damaged in the flooding. The estimated damage to residential structures was $30 million, $7.5 million to the contents of homes, and almost $900,000 to business structures. Add another $3 million for the damage to contents and inventory at businesses. In addition to financial harm, the flooding caused 1,500 people in Pierce County to be evacuated from their homes when the flooding was at its worst. Two weeks after the initial storm, Washington’s governor asked for a declaration of federal disaster in 11 counties. “Families in these counties have been hit hard by this month’s flooding,” observed Governor Gregoire. “Today I have asked President Bush for federal assistance that will help these families and communities recover and build.” At that time it was reported that 104 homes had been destroyed, 206 homes suffered major damage, and 572 homes received minor damage.
After the Storm
Some clear weather followed the storm, and staff from the park were able to visit their ravaged job site on the Wednesday after the storm. They traveled on foot, by car, and by helicopter. Apart from the quarter-mile gap in the road by the Nisqually Entrance to Longmire (on the western side), they found a river where the Sunshine Point Campground used to be. Power and sewer lines in that western area were washed out, while Highway 123 and the Stevens Canyon Road were impassable with several washouts. Several places on the road in the Carbon River area were washed out, and the Ipsut Creek Campground was no longer there. First estimates indicated it would take several weeks before the park was able to receive visitors. That’s not several weeks of nice, summery weather; more rain and snow were likely. One of the first helpful moves by authorities was to set up three information sessions in local communities, in Packwood, Eatonville, and Enumclaw, where residents are not only neighbors of the park but also, some of them, business owners whose livelihood is closely aligned to the park’s activities.
 |
National Park Service |
| On Nisaqually Road can you see what flooding will do to roads and bridges. |
 |
National Park Service |
| Any one of these logs could severly damage or destroy a vehicle or building. |
An interesting and encouraging fact we learned was that Dave Uberagua and his colleagues were already considering repairs and reinstatement even before the storm had finished. Once they realized that damage would be extensive, they were already ordering heavy equipment and rock to help with the repair of the vital Nisqually Road.
About 10 days after the November 6–7 event, the National Park Service issued a report. The damage included five roads, four campgrounds, three buildings, one amphitheater, and trails all over the park. The water, sewer, and electrical systems were extensively damaged. Crews had begun to rebuild the roadway just inside the Nisqually Entrance, using more than 2,000 tons of large rocks. Field staff members were working in wet, windy conditions, and access to anywhere was difficult. Snow could fall as low as 3,000-foot elevations, and the temperatures were expected to highs in the 40s and lows in the 30s. Eighty-two park employees were assigned to the work, and help was sent from Yosemite, Redwood, and Sequoia National Parks and the Dinosaur National Monument. Among partners in the recovery work were Guest Services Inc., Federal Highways, the Washington Department of Transportation, the US Geological Survey, the Sheriff of Pierce County, Fire Station 23 from Pierce County, and all kinds of cooperative people from Pierce and Lewis counties.
When the Flood Attacked Urban Areas
After any natural disaster (Hurricane Katrina would be a good example), there are endless negative comments about what could have been done or should have been done, what this authority should have known and could have known. Sometimes the disaster is of such magnitude (again, remember Katrina) that the very best laid plans of men and women would have made little difference. The state of Washington has been tested by rains and floods before, by that Pineapple Express that comes roaring into whichever station it chooses, but there are times when the accustomed, if not welcome, event includes something different. In the recent rainstorms in Washington, the amount of rain was more than usual, but the added mischief was caused by the wind. On the slopes of Mount Rainer and throughout King County, the rain is expected. The gales that accompanied it this time were not. Water running down a slope is one problem; water being driven by powerful winds is a different, more difficult challenge. Many of us could hit a baseball thrown by a six-year-old, accurately enough, but not too fast. The same pitch hurled by a professional player at 90 miles per hour could have different results.
 |
National Park Service |
| Fast cross currents of water and uprooted trees prevent entry to Mount Rainier National Park, an especially hard-hit area. |
King County is the 12th largest county in the US, by population, and home to Seattle. In contrast to the sparse population in the Mount Rainier areas, the county has almost 2 million people. Almost exactly one year before the floods, King County hosted a meeting for multiple segments of its population with the title “The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be: Planning for Climate Disruption.” Among several experts in attendance, Neil Thibert represented Seattle Public Utilities as he discussed Seattle’s progressive stormwater management system. Dave Clark, who used to be with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), discussed flood hazard management in King County, and Phil Mote, from the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington, discussed the possible effects of future climate changes in the Pacific Northwest. After extensive discussion, three items were identified as priorities. Priorities for whom? The attendees included local governments, businesses, farmers, tribes, nonprofit organizations, and what may be described as the community at large.
The three priorities may be paraphrased as follows:
- Collect and disseminate accurate information about climate change. It is a complex issue, but its impacts on different sectors can be expressed in understandable, specific, and practical ways to those who make public decisions and to the general public.
- Public agencies should become more involved in addressing issues from climate change, immediately and in the future. This could mean that agencies devise and enforce more stringent design standards into public development projects and monitor and enforce standards established for private facilities.
- Encourage more cooperation between water resources to develop strategies for mitigation and to make decisions beneficial to the public.
 |
National Park Service |
| Even before the storm was over, the repair equipment was being prepared for its task. |
One aspect of the floods in Washington that deserves praise was the cooperation among agencies, departments, and the public. When a flood destroys a road, it’s not just the responsibility of the flood control employees. At 1:00 in the morning Tony Ledbetter drove 30 miles to assess a situation for himself. He is maintenance supervisor of King County Roads Services, and one of his crews had reported that a bridge didn’t look right. After receiving the emergency call at home, Ledbetter instructed the crew chief to close the bridge and then drove to the site himself. On his arrival at Upper Preston Road, Ledbetter agreed with his crew that the bridge looked dangerous. Twenty minutes later, a large slab of the road at the approach to the bridge glided into the (aptly named?) Raging River. More pieces of roadway followed in the ensuing days. “If that operator hadn’t been out checking around the clock, and if he hadn’t questioned the condition of the road, someone could have driven off the road and into the river,” comments Ledbetter. He attributed the wise observation of his colleague to sheer experience and good attitude. Another productive aspect that he mentioned was the involvement of the community, not officials but ordinary residents. “The citizens are providing us with constant flow information regarding road conditions,” comments Ledbetter. “That is great because we can’t be everywhere at once. In turn we try to return calls and let them know what we are doing to fix the situation, which they really appreciate.”
 |
National Park Service |
| Crews were out quickly to shore up the banks of streams and rivers. |
Not If, but When
In July 2006, King County Executive Ron Sims proposed a remedy for the county’s aging system of 500 levees and revetments that protect urban and rural floodplain residents, businesses, public infrastructure, roads, and regional economic centers. “It is not a question of if there will be a major flood event in King County, but a question of when the next event will occur,” noted Sims in the proposal. “Our proposed 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan recommends innovative engineered and ecological strategies to reduce flood risks to tens of thousands of people and billions of dollars in economic infrastructure and major transportation corridors.” Interestingly, the apparently huge cost of the county plans would mean only an extra $30 per annum on a $300,000 home. “Let’s make the investments and prevent it,” commented Sims. The “it” is the potential disaster.
A floodplain—the surrounding flat area that is flooded now and then with water that exceeds a stream’s or river’s channel capacity—is, as it were, a pressure relief for a river or stream to expend excess water and dissipate erosive energy during floods. Flooding, naturally, has the greatest effect in the floodplain. Floods pick up and distribute sediment and debris; they recharge shallow aquifers. Floods create swales, side channels, and other features of the floor of a valley, each feature contributing to the dissipation of a river’s erosive forces. Plant, fish, and wildlife populations are also beneficiaries of floodplain activity.
“In the relatively short time since Euro-American settlement began in the Puget Sound basin, the region’s floodplains have been changed extensively by development,” notes Steve Bleifuhs, manager of the River and Floodplain Management Unit for the Water and Land Resources Division of King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks. At first there was land clearing and then drainage systems installed to support farming, mining, and railroad transportation. “Despite the relatively small population of settlers in the region, major changes have occurred at an accelerated pace,” says Bleifuhs. “That included the conversion of forested and vegetated floodplains to farmland; the removal of woody debris from stream and river channels; channelization and bank armoring; rerouting of major rivers; and the building of dams for water supply, flood control, or hydropower.”
King County identifies those locations that are at risk from channel migration and flooding; mapping, analytic, and property tracking approaches are used. As of 2005, 49 river miles (concerning the four areas where the main rivers and tributaries affect the county) had been mapped. That comprised 5,461 acres and 1,106 parcels (of a total 623,000 parcels countywide). The parcels included 389 structures with a total assessed value of $179,228,513. A further 50 river miles are being mapped now for channel migration zones. The area at risk from flooding is characterized with a flood study for a 100-year floodplain. So far, 25,171 acres have been identified in mapped 100-year floodplains in King County. That land includes 4,559 parcels and 2,045 structures. For the statistics and records, parcels are considered when at least 50% of the parcel within the mapped 100-year floodplain and structures are considered included if 50% or more of the parcel on which the structure stands is within the mapped floodplain. Six rivers play major roles in all this preparation: the South Fork Skykomish River, Snoqualmie River, White River, Green River, Sammamish River, and Cedar River.
 |
National Park Service |
| Tahoma Creek became a raging torrent. |
 |
National Park Service |
| Ipsut Creek Campground was overcome by its natural surroundings. |
Advertisement
Help With the Recovery
Interdepartmental cooperation works well after the original storm event, after the flooding, as the damage is being assessed and the likelihood of help (federal, mostly) is determined. The King County Office of Emergency Management and other affected counties started to collect flood damage estimates immediately for primary residences and businesses. That information prepares the State of Washington in its request for federal help. The office notified residents that specific information would be required—items like the correct name and address of the damaged property, a description of the damage sustained, an estimate of uninsured losses, and estimates of the fair market value of the homes and businesses affected by the floods. The public was advised not to report damage to secondary or recreational homes or to detached garages and storage buildings. Damage in certain areas (such as crops and orchards) could be reported more appropriately to the local farm service representative; from there the data would go to the Washington State Office of the Federal Farm Service Agency.
About 10 days after the first onslaught of the rain and flooding, the preliminary assessment of damage was ready for primary residences and businesses. State and federal inspectors toured the county to see the damage. The first estimates noted that businesses and individual homes had sustained damages to the value of $4 million. Public assets had already shown more than seven times as much. The spirit of community was surely shown in the speed with which the county addressed problems and needs of its individual residents. “We remain concerned and dedicated to helping the residents and businesses of King County recover from the most significant flooding our region has seen in over 10 years,” observes Eric Holdeman, director of the King County Office of Emergency Management. “In cooperation with our state and federal partners, the county is working to ease the burden of this disaster on those impacted citizens.”
Author's Bio: Paul Hull writes on construction topics for several magazines.
May 2007
The Perils of Pineapple
Seasonal storms bring devastating floods to the Pacific Northwest
In most northern communities of the US, a warm day or two during November or the following winter months is greeted with glee and relief, but there are certain weather conditions that can cause havoc, especially in the part of the country near Seattle and Mount Rainier. The kindly warmth comes from Hawaii and brings an abundance of rain with it, rain that will even fall as rain on snow-covered slopes in the mountain ranges. The immediate appeal of what is known as “the Pineapple Express” fades quickly when the heavy rainfall increases the runoff into rivers and melts snow at the lower mountain altitudes to give even more rushing water.
In early November 2006, the Pineapple Express visited Washington, especially Mount Rainier National Park and King County. (Earlier in the year, there had been unusually intense rainstorms in parts of Alaska, which were attributed to the Pineapple Express.) Rain fell at the rate of several inches per day. On the first Sunday of November, Mount Rainier National Park received more than 7 inches of rain and another 10 inches on the following day. The rivers in the park looked like angry torrents of cold cocoa, carrying mud, rocks, and trees in a flood that was out of control and seeking new areas to attack. Roads and campgrounds were threatened; some were destroyed. At the Nisqually Entrance to Paradise, people were turned back and the main park road was closed. There were rocks cascading onto Highway 123; that was closed, too. The greatest concern was for the safety of visitors and workers. “We want to prevent visitors from getting trapped inside the park,” noted Dave Uberagua, superintendent. “The road is vulnerable to washouts in several key places, and there is only one way out.” Employees of Mount Rainier National Park working at Longmire were advised to leave the park while the roads were still passable. How inaccessible had the park become? Doug Williams, an employee of the King County, WA, communications department, says that access was impossible even to people like himself who often go hiking there and know the trails well. Just after the more than 17 inches of rain with rivers described as a “churning mass of mud, trees, and rocks,” Uberagua reinforced that the top priority was safety for people, including employees. “Our focus right now is on the safety and well-being of our employees,” he said. “Once the storm is passed we will be able to assess the damage and begin the work needed to reopen the park to visitors.”
Governor Chris Gregoire proclaimed a state of emergency quickly (on November 6) for 18 counties. The counties were Whatcom, Thurston, Skagit, Pacific, Mason, Kitsap, Jefferson, Cowlitz, Clallam, Chelan, Wahkiakum, Snohomish, Pierce (where Mount Rainer is located), Okanogan, Lewis, Grays Harbor, Clark, and (the biggest) King. “Flooding has already caused extensive damage,” noted the governor. “Landslides and high winds pose additional threats.” In Pierce County, two weeks after the initial rainstorm, the county’s Department of Emergency Management released its preliminary assessment of the damage. At least 175 residential properties and nine businesses were damaged in the flooding. The estimated damage to residential structures was $30 million, $7.5 million to the contents of homes, and almost $900,000 to business structures. Add another $3 million for the damage to contents and inventory at businesses. In addition to financial harm, the flooding caused 1,500 people in Pierce County to be evacuated from their homes when the flooding was at its worst. Two weeks after the initial storm, Washington’s governor asked for a declaration of federal disaster in 11 counties. “Families in these counties have been hit hard by this month’s flooding,” observed Governor Gregoire. “Today I have asked President Bush for federal assistance that will help these families and communities recover and build.” At that time it was reported that 104 homes had been destroyed, 206 homes suffered major damage, and 572 homes received minor damage.
After the Storm
Some clear weather followed the storm, and staff from the park were able to visit their ravaged job site on the Wednesday after the storm. They traveled on foot, by car, and by helicopter. Apart from the quarter-mile gap in the road by the Nisqually Entrance to Longmire (on the western side), they found a river where the Sunshine Point Campground used to be. Power and sewer lines in that western area were washed out, while Highway 123 and the Stevens Canyon Road were impassable with several washouts. Several places on the road in the Carbon River area were washed out, and the Ipsut Creek Campground was no longer there. First estimates indicated it would take several weeks before the park was able to receive visitors. That’s not several weeks of nice, summery weather; more rain and snow were likely. One of the first helpful moves by authorities was to set up three information sessions in local communities, in Packwood, Eatonville, and Enumclaw, where residents are not only neighbors of the park but also, some of them, business owners whose livelihood is closely aligned to the park’s activities.
|
National Park Service |
| On Nisaqually Road can you see what flooding will do to roads and bridges. |
|
National Park Service |
| Any one of these logs could severly damage or destroy a vehicle or building. |
An interesting and encouraging fact we learned was that Dave Uberagua and his colleagues were already considering repairs and reinstatement even before the storm had finished. Once they realized that damage would be extensive, they were already ordering heavy equipment and rock to help with the repair of the vital Nisqually Road.
About 10 days after the November 6–7 event, the National Park Service issued a report. The damage included five roads, four campgrounds, three buildings, one amphitheater, and trails all over the park. The water, sewer, and electrical systems were extensively damaged. Crews had begun to rebuild the roadway just inside the Nisqually Entrance, using more than 2,000 tons of large rocks. Field staff members were working in wet, windy conditions, and access to anywhere was difficult. Snow could fall as low as 3,000-foot elevations, and the temperatures were expected to highs in the 40s and lows in the 30s. Eighty-two park employees were assigned to the work, and help was sent from Yosemite, Redwood, and Sequoia National Parks and the Dinosaur National Monument. Among partners in the recovery work were Guest Services Inc., Federal Highways, the Washington Department of Transportation, the US Geological Survey, the Sheriff of Pierce County, Fire Station 23 from Pierce County, and all kinds of cooperative people from Pierce and Lewis counties.
When the Flood Attacked Urban Areas
After any natural disaster (Hurricane Katrina would be a good example), there are endless negative comments about what could have been done or should have been done, what this authority should have known and could have known. Sometimes the disaster is of such magnitude (again, remember Katrina) that the very best laid plans of men and women would have made little difference. The state of Washington has been tested by rains and floods before, by that Pineapple Express that comes roaring into whichever station it chooses, but there are times when the accustomed, if not welcome, event includes something different. In the recent rainstorms in Washington, the amount of rain was more than usual, but the added mischief was caused by the wind. On the slopes of Mount Rainer and throughout King County, the rain is expected. The gales that accompanied it this time were not. Water running down a slope is one problem; water being driven by powerful winds is a different, more difficult challenge. Many of us could hit a baseball thrown by a six-year-old, accurately enough, but not too fast. The same pitch hurled by a professional player at 90 miles per hour could have different results.
|
National Park Service |
| Fast cross currents of water and uprooted trees prevent entry to Mount Rainier National Park, an especially hard-hit area. |
King County is the 12th largest county in the US, by population, and home to Seattle. In contrast to the sparse population in the Mount Rainier areas, the county has almost 2 million people. Almost exactly one year before the floods, King County hosted a meeting for multiple segments of its population with the title “The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be: Planning for Climate Disruption.” Among several experts in attendance, Neil Thibert represented Seattle Public Utilities as he discussed Seattle’s progressive stormwater management system. Dave Clark, who used to be with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), discussed flood hazard management in King County, and Phil Mote, from the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington, discussed the possible effects of future climate changes in the Pacific Northwest. After extensive discussion, three items were identified as priorities. Priorities for whom? The attendees included local governments, businesses, farmers, tribes, nonprofit organizations, and what may be described as the community at large.
The three priorities may be paraphrased as follows:
- Collect and disseminate accurate information about climate change. It is a complex issue, but its impacts on different sectors can be expressed in understandable, specific, and practical ways to those who make public decisions and to the general public.
- Public agencies should become more involved in addressing issues from climate change, immediately and in the future. This could mean that agencies devise and enforce more stringent design standards into public development projects and monitor and enforce standards established for private facilities.
- Encourage more cooperation between water resources to develop strategies for mitigation and to make decisions beneficial to the public.
|
National Park Service |
| Even before the storm was over, the repair equipment was being prepared for its task. |
One aspect of the floods in Washington that deserves praise was the cooperation among agencies, departments, and the public. When a flood destroys a road, it’s not just the responsibility of the flood control employees. At 1:00 in the morning Tony Ledbetter drove 30 miles to assess a situation for himself. He is maintenance supervisor of King County Roads Services, and one of his crews had reported that a bridge didn’t look right. After receiving the emergency call at home, Ledbetter instructed the crew chief to close the bridge and then drove to the site himself. On his arrival at Upper Preston Road, Ledbetter agreed with his crew that the bridge looked dangerous. Twenty minutes later, a large slab of the road at the approach to the bridge glided into the (aptly named?) Raging River. More pieces of roadway followed in the ensuing days. “If that operator hadn’t been out checking around the clock, and if he hadn’t questioned the condition of the road, someone could have driven off the road and into the river,” comments Ledbetter. He attributed the wise observation of his colleague to sheer experience and good attitude. Another productive aspect that he mentioned was the involvement of the community, not officials but ordinary residents. “The citizens are providing us with constant flow information regarding road conditions,” comments Ledbetter. “That is great because we can’t be everywhere at once. In turn we try to return calls and let them know what we are doing to fix the situation, which they really appreciate.”
|
National Park Service |
| Crews were out quickly to shore up the banks of streams and rivers. |
Not If, but When
In July 2006, King County Executive Ron Sims proposed a remedy for the county’s aging system of 500 levees and revetments that protect urban and rural floodplain residents, businesses, public infrastructure, roads, and regional economic centers. “It is not a question of if there will be a major flood event in King County, but a question of when the next event will occur,” noted Sims in the proposal. “Our proposed 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan recommends innovative engineered and ecological strategies to reduce flood risks to tens of thousands of people and billions of dollars in economic infrastructure and major transportation corridors.” Interestingly, the apparently huge cost of the county plans would mean only an extra $30 per annum on a $300,000 home. “Let’s make the investments and prevent it,” commented Sims. The “it” is the potential disaster.
A floodplain—the surrounding flat area that is flooded now and then with water that exceeds a stream’s or river’s channel capacity—is, as it were, a pressure relief for a river or stream to expend excess water and dissipate erosive energy during floods. Flooding, naturally, has the greatest effect in the floodplain. Floods pick up and distribute sediment and debris; they recharge shallow aquifers. Floods create swales, side channels, and other features of the floor of a valley, each feature contributing to the dissipation of a river’s erosive forces. Plant, fish, and wildlife populations are also beneficiaries of floodplain activity.
“In the relatively short time since Euro-American settlement began in the Puget Sound basin, the region’s floodplains have been changed extensively by development,” notes Steve Bleifuhs, manager of the River and Floodplain Management Unit for the Water and Land Resources Division of King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks. At first there was land clearing and then drainage systems installed to support farming, mining, and railroad transportation. “Despite the relatively small population of settlers in the region, major changes have occurred at an accelerated pace,” says Bleifuhs. “That included the conversion of forested and vegetated floodplains to farmland; the removal of woody debris from stream and river channels; channelization and bank armoring; rerouting of major rivers; and the building of dams for water supply, flood control, or hydropower.”
King County identifies those locations that are at risk from channel migration and flooding; mapping, analytic, and property tracking approaches are used. As of 2005, 49 river miles (concerning the four areas where the main rivers and tributaries affect the county) had been mapped. That comprised 5,461 acres and 1,106 parcels (of a total 623,000 parcels countywide). The parcels included 389 structures with a total assessed value of $179,228,513. A further 50 river miles are being mapped now for channel migration zones. The area at risk from flooding is characterized with a flood study for a 100-year floodplain. So far, 25,171 acres have been identified in mapped 100-year floodplains in King County. That land includes 4,559 parcels and 2,045 structures. For the statistics and records, parcels are considered when at least 50% of the parcel within the mapped 100-year floodplain and structures are considered included if 50% or more of the parcel on which the structure stands is within the mapped floodplain. Six rivers play major roles in all this preparation: the South Fork Skykomish River, Snoqualmie River, White River, Green River, Sammamish River, and Cedar River.
|
National Park Service |
| Tahoma Creek became a raging torrent. |
|
National Park Service |
| Ipsut Creek Campground was overcome by its natural surroundings. |
Help With the Recovery
Interdepartmental cooperation works well after the original storm event, after the flooding, as the damage is being assessed and the likelihood of help (federal, mostly) is determined. The King County Office of Emergency Management and other affected counties started to collect flood damage estimates immediately for primary residences and businesses. That information prepares the State of Washington in its request for federal help. The office notified residents that specific information would be required—items like the correct name and address of the damaged property, a description of the damage sustained, an estimate of uninsured losses, and estimates of the fair market value of the homes and businesses affected by the floods. The public was advised not to report damage to secondary or recreational homes or to detached garages and storage buildings. Damage in certain areas (such as crops and orchards) could be reported more appropriately to the local farm service representative; from there the data would go to the Washington State Office of the Federal Farm Service Agency.
About 10 days after the first onslaught of the rain and flooding, the preliminary assessment of damage was ready for primary residences and businesses. State and federal inspectors toured the county to see the damage. The first estimates noted that businesses and individual homes had sustained damages to the value of $4 million. Public assets had already shown more than seven times as much. The spirit of community was surely shown in the speed with which the county addressed problems and needs of its individual residents. “We remain concerned and dedicated to helping the residents and businesses of King County recover from the most significant flooding our region has seen in over 10 years,” observes Eric Holdeman, director of the King County Office of Emergency Management. “In cooperation with our state and federal partners, the county is working to ease the burden of this disaster on those impacted citizens.”