Everett, Wash.
Published: Saturday, January 10, 2009

Sen. Murray tours county's flood damage

She notes that river communities deserve federal money for help in preventing floods

By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer

 SNOHOMISH -- As Sheriff John Lovick drove his patrol car along U.S. 2 toward Snoho­mish on Friday, he noticed the passenger beside him staring out the window at a panoramic glimpse of flooded valley.

"That's usually not a lake out there," Lovick told her.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., toured flooded sections of Snohomish Friday morning before joining Gov. Chris Gregoire and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters in waterlogged Lewis and Pierce counties in the afternoon.

Murray said the devastation caused by the flooding in Snohomish is a visual reminder that federal money for improving the economy and enhancing the nation's infrastructure also must be directed toward shoring up the system of levees that protect people and businesses in communities along rivers.

"My heart goes out to all the families and businesses who are struggling through this," Murray said. "We have to make sure that communities like this get access to those funds."

Murray got a briefing from Snohomish Police Chief John Turner and city manager Larry Bauman on Friday morning. Snohomish County was one of the areas hit hardest by flooding in Western Washington this week. The Snohomish River climbed to a near-record crest on Thursday and stayed at that level for hours.

As Murray's entourage neared a flooded neighborhood on the east side of town near the confluence of the Pilchuck and Snohomish rivers, one man came onto his porch and yelled, "Do you want to buy some lakefront property?"

Turner drove the senator through a mobile home park near a riverbank. That homes didn't wind up under water served as testimony to low-tech ingenuity and community cooperation, he said.

Sand wasn't available for sandbags so a solution was improvised using a truckload of hay. The Army Corps of Engineers and dozens of students from the Snohomish High School Junior ROTC program worked together before the waters rose to drive stakes through the bales, anchoring them into a makeshift dike, keeping much of the river water inside the banks and out of homes.

Murray heard the same theme when she stopped by B & H Body Shop near the Avenue D Bridge at First Street downtown.

The flood-prone business was able to keep key equipment dry, thanks to some help from its friends, who helped them move to higher ground.

"We have so many neighbors come to help us out," co-owner Mike Benjamin told the senator.



Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA