Snoqualmie spared a disastrous flood
November 13, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
Updated – 4:44 p.m., Nov. 13
When Rena Goforth went to bed Wednesday night, she did so with flood waters creeping up the driveway to her home and reports of a deluge of unprecedented levels swirling around her home town of Snoqualmie.
When she awakened Thursday morning, however, threatening water had retreated — and Goforth was feeling quite fortunate.
Flood waters overtake trees as the Snoqualmie River rages Wednesday afternoon.
“After we heard the reports, we scrambled to get as ready as we could. And it came about six feet up our driveway, but didn’t get any further than that,” said Goforth, who lives on Southeast Park Street in downtown and a short distance from the Snoqualmie River. “We’re very lucky.”
Goforth was just one of a collective group of residents and business owners in downtown Snoqualmie who were feeling that way early Thursday, as reports of flooding coming from the Snoqualmie River didn’t turn out to be nearly as damaging as first predicted.
On Wednesday, King County officials delivered estimates to the city that the cubic-feet-per-second ratio could get as high as 65,000 for the sum of the three forks of the Snoqualmie River. That’s 10,000 higher than a flood in November of 2006 that severely damaged businesses and homes in the downtown area.
At this end of this one, though, the river crested much early than expected and only reached the 44,400 c.f.s level.
“We’re quite relieved. We feel like we dodged a bullet,” Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson said. “It’s certainly nothing like the 2006 flood.”
From left, Cody Schneider, Matthew Lyne and Devin Aberle romp through a flooded Riverview Park in downtown Snoqualmie Wednesday.
Larson said the most likely reason for the miscalculation was weather. There were a pair of storm systems that had overlapped and were expected to hit Snoqualmie at the same time. Before one of them reached the city, however, it turned in another direction.
That was just fine with Michael Row, who had cleaned out his shop in anticipation of massive flooding. Row owns Morgan’s Custom Cycle, which is at 8306 Meadowbrook Way SE, just a stone’s throw from the river.
“There wasn’t a drop in here. We got all the bikes out and were all prepared for it, but it didn’t get us. I was surprised,” he said.
“Back in 2006, there were some houses on this block that were just a few feet from being completely submerged and they were trying to tell us that it was going to be worse than that. I think they kind of slipped in 06 and maybe they were trying to make up for it. But it’s better to be too prepared, than not prepared enough.”
Row was complimentary of the city’s emergency notification system, which called residents in danger areas to apprise them of the situation. The city of Snoqualmie did not have its current, high-tech emergency notification system in place in 2006, and was pleased with its performance this time around.
“It was our first opportunity to use this in a flood,” Larson said. “It’s a pretty slick system. It’s essentially a dynamic map and the fire chief can go in and outline particular streets he wants to have called.”
Morgan
With a flood looming Wednesday, the city set up an area in the parking lot off King Street for residents to fill bags with sand. A large collection of volunteers, including children, helped residents prepare.
The city also offered the fire station as a temporary warming shelter for those forced to evacuate and the American Red Cross opened the Preston Park Community Center for residents who needed somewhere to stay overnight.
With flood estimates as high as they were, many residents did evacuate the downtown area of Snoqualmie upon the recommendation of the city. Early in the day, Larson issued a State of Emergency as flood levels had risen to Phase IV — a level that includes residential flooding.
It was about 4 p.m. Wednesday when the city realized the flood wouldn’t be as damaging as first predicted. A press release issued by the city had the river cresting at that time.
Snoqualmie Valley Schools closed both Wednesday and Thursday, due to the threat. A Class 3A state playoff game, scheduled between Mount Si and Bonney Lake Wednesday at Mount Si Stadium, was postponed until Thursday night.
Several streets were closed in the Valley, including some in North Bend, where the situation wasn’t nearly as dire. North Bend Mayor Ken Hearing said water levels on the south fork of the Snoqualmie River got within about a foot of the banks, before receding. Still, storm water forced the closure of several roads.
As a precaution, hundred of sand bags were filled in North Bend and used primarily to protect a levy adjacent to the Mount Si Senior Center near the Bendigo/Highway 202 Bridge.
“I want to thank the dozens of people that braved the rain and wind to help protect the city,” Hearing said in a press release. “The volunteers in the community are part of what make North Bend a great place to live.”
Reach editor Ryan Piersol at editor@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434.
Comments
Got something to say?
Before you comment, please note:
- These comments are moderated.
- Comments should be relevant to the topic at hand and contribute to its discussion.
- Personal attacks and/or excessive profanity will not be tolerated and such comments will not be approved.
- This is not your personal chat room or forum, so please stay on topic.
