Published: Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 9:21 p.m.
With flood waters receding, work of cleanup begins
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Jacob Gahan, a waiter at Patty's Eggnest & Turkey House west of Arlington, powerwashes the restaurant's booths Tuesday afternoon. The entire restaurant was flooded, and staff spent the entire day completely stripping out the inside and cleaning every inch.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
A Snohomish County Road Maintenance bridge crew out of Arlington removes log debris from beneath the Oso Loop Bridge 89 in Oso Tuesday afternoon.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Tad Merritt uses a chain saw to break up debris with a Snohomish County Road Maintenance bridge crew beneath the Oso Loop Bridge 89 in Oso on Tuesday
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SILVANA — When the floodwaters began spilling over the railroad tracks here early Sunday afternoon, Country Cafe owner Willow Payne and her husband, Jim, sent their customers and employees home.
The Paynes spent the night, working hard to get everything off the wet concrete floor. They caught naps on the benches of the restaurant's booths.
“But we didn't really sleep. Part of the problem in Silvana is that the groundwater bubbles up and makes a lot of noise under our building,” Willow Payne said. “The crazy thing about this particular flood is that it came up so fast and it moved fast, too.”
The Stillaguamish River ran fast and full.
At its peak on Sunday just before 4 p.m., the Stilly at Arlington was running at a record 21.16 feet. The water raced past at 81,800 cubic feet per second, according to National Weather Service data.
That's 612,000 gallons per second, or the equivalent of 150 Boeing 747-400s filled to the brim with water zipping by Arlington's Haller Park every minute.
The Stilly sounded like a jet engine Sunday, witnesses said.
“That's a lot of water coming down from up in the mountains,” Arlington natural resources manager Bill Blake said Tuesday. “It's weird. People want to blame this on development, but it's clearly from up above. There were whole trees in the river.”
Back in Silvana, things moved at a pace set by the flood water's sluggish retreat. A neighbor four doors down from the Country Cafe put his automatic floor scrubber in a rowboat Monday afternoon and paddled over to help the Paynes clean up the silty brown mess.
“We were just unloading the auto scrubber when a semi truck drove down Pioneer Highway. His wake nearly flooded the restaurant again,” she said. “In Silvana it isn't wise to have anything but concrete floors.”
At Patty's Eggnest & Turkey House at nearby Island Crossing, the restaurant floor is carpeted. Flood cleanup there continued throughout the day on Tuesday.
Upriver in Oso, county crews worked with a large crane to remove logs, limbs and roots jammed tight by the current against the Oso Loop Road bridge. The debris dam nearly reached the height of the bridge deck, and almost spanned the river.
Snohomish County public works crews were out Tuesday checking on the condition of roads and reopening areas where the water had receded. The north end of Marine Drive at Stanwood remained closed with water still over the blacktop.
“Damage to flood saturated roads is often not initially evident,” county spokesman Christopher Schwarzen said. “Crews will be out all week to monitor the damage.”
The Paynes have no plans to close their Country Cafe in Silvana. Coping with Stilly floods is just part of the deal. Their little community is just too precious to abandon, Willow Payne said.
She hopes her customers soon return, especially on Saturday when all proceeds go to employee bonuses.
“When people come to eat, we are asking them to bring along any old cleaning rags they don't need,” Payne said. “We used up all of ours with this flood.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
What now?
Check with your insurance agent to check on your coverage. Keep detailed records of all cleanup and repair costs. Take photographs. To report flood damage to the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, call 425-388-5088.
With these reports, the county will make a case to the state and federal government that Snohomish County is worthy of assistance. It's a process that won't deliver money immediately, but filing a report could pay off eventually, said John Pennington of emergency management.
The Paynes spent the night, working hard to get everything off the wet concrete floor. They caught naps on the benches of the restaurant's booths.
“But we didn't really sleep. Part of the problem in Silvana is that the groundwater bubbles up and makes a lot of noise under our building,” Willow Payne said. “The crazy thing about this particular flood is that it came up so fast and it moved fast, too.”
The Stillaguamish River ran fast and full.
At its peak on Sunday just before 4 p.m., the Stilly at Arlington was running at a record 21.16 feet. The water raced past at 81,800 cubic feet per second, according to National Weather Service data.
That's 612,000 gallons per second, or the equivalent of 150 Boeing 747-400s filled to the brim with water zipping by Arlington's Haller Park every minute.
The Stilly sounded like a jet engine Sunday, witnesses said.
“That's a lot of water coming down from up in the mountains,” Arlington natural resources manager Bill Blake said Tuesday. “It's weird. People want to blame this on development, but it's clearly from up above. There were whole trees in the river.”
Back in Silvana, things moved at a pace set by the flood water's sluggish retreat. A neighbor four doors down from the Country Cafe put his automatic floor scrubber in a rowboat Monday afternoon and paddled over to help the Paynes clean up the silty brown mess.
“We were just unloading the auto scrubber when a semi truck drove down Pioneer Highway. His wake nearly flooded the restaurant again,” she said. “In Silvana it isn't wise to have anything but concrete floors.”
At Patty's Eggnest & Turkey House at nearby Island Crossing, the restaurant floor is carpeted. Flood cleanup there continued throughout the day on Tuesday.
Upriver in Oso, county crews worked with a large crane to remove logs, limbs and roots jammed tight by the current against the Oso Loop Road bridge. The debris dam nearly reached the height of the bridge deck, and almost spanned the river.
Snohomish County public works crews were out Tuesday checking on the condition of roads and reopening areas where the water had receded. The north end of Marine Drive at Stanwood remained closed with water still over the blacktop.
“Damage to flood saturated roads is often not initially evident,” county spokesman Christopher Schwarzen said. “Crews will be out all week to monitor the damage.”
The Paynes have no plans to close their Country Cafe in Silvana. Coping with Stilly floods is just part of the deal. Their little community is just too precious to abandon, Willow Payne said.
She hopes her customers soon return, especially on Saturday when all proceeds go to employee bonuses.
“When people come to eat, we are asking them to bring along any old cleaning rags they don't need,” Payne said. “We used up all of ours with this flood.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
What now?
Check with your insurance agent to check on your coverage. Keep detailed records of all cleanup and repair costs. Take photographs. To report flood damage to the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, call 425-388-5088.
With these reports, the county will make a case to the state and federal government that Snohomish County is worthy of assistance. It's a process that won't deliver money immediately, but filing a report could pay off eventually, said John Pennington of emergency management.
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