Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >> Mark Mulligan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Carole Korelin wades back to 98th Avenue NW in Stanwood after examining flood damage to her home Saturday. Korelin tried to enter the home Friday, but with the water still too deep, she decided to return Saturday with hip waders. (click to enlarge) Carole Korelin removes soaked linens she found in a flooded downstairs room of her Stanwood home. Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Highway 9 through the Snohomish River valley was still covered in water Saturday afternoon. Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Williams Road gets a little wet as it heads out into the Snohomish River valley southwest of Snohomish. Mark Mulligan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) A resident looks out from the front porch of her home on 98th Avenue NW in Stanwood where waist-deep water surrounds the residence.   ADVERTISEMENT   Our wild weather Nov. 6-8: Flood watch on Stilla­gua­mish, Snohomish and Skykomish rivers. Snoho­mish River rises to flood stage, cresting at 26.81 feet. Nov. 12-14: Flooding occurs in Index, Sultan and Gold Bar, but is less severe than expected. Dec. 13-14: Snow falls, causing 110 collisions in Western Washington, including 50 in Snohomish County. Dec. 15: Coldest weather in 18 years, dropping to 18 degrees in Everett and 12 degrees in Arlington. Dec. 17: More snow; lows continue in teens. Schools close. Dec 18: Thunder accompanies snow in south Snohomish County's convergence zone. Dec. 20: Much of county is blanketed by heavy snowfall; winds reach 30 mph. Dec. 21: As much as 12 inches of snow falls. Snowstorm leaves drifts nearly 8 feet deep in Sultan. Jan. 8: Flooding closes I-5 near Chehalis; flooding on Stillaguamish, Snohomish and Sky­ko­mish rivers.   Related Stories • As waters seep away, state starts to total the damage 1/11/09   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, January 11, 2009 Floodwaters slowly retreat; stretch of Highway 9 opened in Snohomish By Kaitlin Manry, Diana Hefley and Katya Yefimova Herald Writers STANWOOD -- Carole Korelin's basement is still a pool of muddy water, but she hopes to go back to her house today and start cleaning up the mess. "After I get the mess cleaned up, I'll get over it," Korelin said. "It's going to be a lot of work, but that's how it goes." Korelin, 62, left her home on 98th Avenue NW on Thursday after the dike right across from her house had breached. She has been staying with her daughter, who lives in Mukilteo. The two came back to the house Saturday to try to haul some of Korelin's things out of the basement. "Having your entire neighborhood flooded with contaminated water is not fun," Korelin said, but it could have been worse. "There are people who really lost a lot, but I'm not one of them." After days of flooding, water is finally starting to drain from homes, valleys and roads in Snohomish County. As the massive lakes of floodwater disappear, homeowners and government engineers are setting to work cleaning up the mess. Crews on Saturday reopened a mile-long stretch of Highway 9 between Second Street and Bickford Avenue in Snohomish, state Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Murphy said. The highway was expected to remain closed today from Second Street to Lowell-Larimer Road. "We'd like to get it open by the morning commute on Monday," Murphy said. "It's just a matter of waiting for that water to drain back into the river." The Snohomish River fell below flood stage about 4 p.m. Saturday and continued to recede. A mix of snow, mud and trees collapsed on Mt. Index River Road Saturday morning, making U.S. 2 out of reach for about 100 people, county spokesman Christopher Schwarzen said. No injuries or damage to any homes was reported. Officials closed the road. People could still pass on foot, but the road continued to slide into the south fork of the Skykomish River. Sheriff's deputies and fire officials were going door to door to notify people whose homes were affected, Schwarzen said. A handful of residents went to stay with family and friends, and one older man who had recently had surgery was evacuated as a precaution. "Crews are trying to build a new path, and it could take a day or two," Schwarzen said. About 500 homes and 60 roads in Snohomish County were flooded. Flood damage throughout the county is expected to exceed $20 million. That comes on top of an estimated $7 million in damage caused by the record snowstorm that crippled the county just weeks earlier. John Pennington, director of emergency management for the county, expects the damage totals from this flood to exceed the damages from the county's memorable 2006 flood, which caused about $20 million. Last week's heavy rains exceeded the precipitation that led to flooding in 2006 by more than 4 inches. On Friday, county public works crews began examining roads and bridges for structural damage. Rushing water has completely torn up sections of some roads and they will need to be repaved, Schwarzen said. "When you have floodwaters moving that fast across a road and they tell you not to drive through floodwaters, it's because the force of that water can move the car off that road," Schwarzen said. "Well, it can also tear off concrete and asphalt." People who live on Ebey Island will likely be able to return to their homes today, said Norman Skjelbreia, a flood engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in Snohomish. Residents of the island were told to evacuate after a levee breached Thursday evening. Crews have been working nonstop since then and managed to close the hole on Saturday, Skjelbreia said. "Everybody chipped in. It was a real community effort." Workers were expected to finish building the levee today. In the coming days, people will start tallying up damages. Homeowners are encouraged to let the county know how much uninsured damage their property has sustained, Schwarzen said. The county will relay estimates to state emergency management officials, who likely will ask for federal emergency funds to help repair damage. This week, teams of state, federal and county workers are expected to begin verifying the damage reports. If floods caused at least $7.7 million in uninsured damage to public infrastructure, the state should qualify for federal help, said Mark Stewart, spokesman for the state Emergency Operations Center in Camp Murray. Most road repairs don't figure into that tally because the Federal Highway Administration covers those costs. With entire neighborhoods submerged and landslides continuing to wipe out homes and streets, Stewart said he can't even begin to estimate the dollar value of flood-related damage. "We still have floodwaters rising in some places," he said late Friday afternoon. "We still have a lot of rivers over flood stage. So until the rivers go back into their banks, before the water that's already out in the farmlands and in the communities dissipates, it's hard to tell what damage has occurred." He's hopeful damage assessment can begin soon. "It depends on Mother Nature," Stewart said. "Give Mom a call and see what she has to say." While Arlington and Stanwood are starting to dry out, floodwaters are expected to linger in Snohomish. "It's like emptying a bathtub," Pennington said. "It's going to take time." As people begin the messy job of cleaning up, Pennington advises that they take photographs and otherwise document the damage. He also warned to be on the lookout for fraudulent contractors who may be drawn by the area's troubles. The state Department of Labor and Industries provides a list of registered contractors at its Web site, www.Contractors.Lni.wa.gov. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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