Flood’s impact now emerging

Published 12:22 pm Friday, January 16, 2009

ARLINGTON — Linda Neunzig is back at work helping other farmers.

Snohomish County’s Agriculture Project coordinator, Neunzig spent part of last week moving the livestock off her farm across the Stillaguamish River from Arlington.

The single mother of two trucked out 200 sheep and lambs, 11 cows, three horses, dogs, cats, chickens and a bunny to a friend’s farm near Granite Falls before the floodwaters hit.

This week, she’s fielding hundreds of calls from farmers around the county who need help filing damage reports. The federal Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency hopes to gather data that could result in an agriculture disaster declaration and some federal funding for farmers in the county, Neunzig said.

So many small farmers, and especially nursery owners, have little or no insurance, she said, and many in the county suffered major damage during recent snowstorms and flooding.

So far, the most that county officials can say is they anticipate flood-related damages will top $20 million. That’s in addition to the nearly $8 million in havoc left by the snow.

Neunzig figures she took a $20,000 hit to her property. She’s used to moving her animals to higher ground and cleaning up the silt in her barns after floods. This time her greenhouse collapsed under the snow and she is now struggling with flood damage to her house.

“My home is 104 years old and the river had never been inside,” Neunzig said. “I now know more about the underside of my house than I ever wanted to.”

On Saturday, Neunzig and friends ripped out floor insulation and carpeting and set up heaters around the house. Cleaning out the barns is on tap this weekend, before she moves her sheep back to the farm. The stress of being moved to higher ground caused some of her sheep to give birth to stillborn lambs.

“If there was ever a time to support your local farmer, this is it,” she said. “If you’re a big commodity farmer growing soy beans, you can get crop insurance. The death of my lambs and loss of feed are not covered. Many local producers are in my situation.”

Across the river, Arlington emergency management coordinator Chris Badger is working to compile estimates to repair damage to roads and levees and to clean up landslides in the city.

Farther down the Stillaguamish, Stanwood city crews are cleaning up after the flood and repairing a leak caused by heavy snow atop a building where city records are kept. They also are working on Thomle Road, where washouts and an exposed water main were discovered after the floodwaters slipped away, city administrator Joyce Papke said.

Floodwater is trapped in the lagoons at the wastewater treatment plant, she said.

“We are slowly getting them decanted through our plant process,” Papke said. “We’re pulling together the bills from the flood, but to really know the cost, we’re going to need to let the water recede a little further.”

In Snohomish, the repair of the city’s water transmission line along the Pilchuck River is now estimated to cost $1.5 million, city manager Larry Bauman said.

Repair of a lagoon at the Snohomish sewage treatment plant is reaching the $14,000 mark, and the bill is about $250,000 to clean and repair Pilchuck Park. In some places in the park, the raging Pilchuck River piled up 4 feet of silt, he said. The Riverfront Trail has sustained damage, but no estimates are available.

“It’s a stressful time; it’s like the perfect storm,” Bauman said. “Our budget reserves are thinner than normal, so we have no extra to deal with this. I imagine we have a lot of private property owners having similar problems.”

John Pennington, director of emergency management for the county, last week said that he expected damage totals from the flood likely will exceed the $20 million reported after the county’s 2006 flood.

Reports are trickling in to support that guess, county spokesman Christopher Schwarzen said.

So far, 21 businesses have reported nearly $1.3 million in damages, and the county has received 104 private property reports totaling about $2.8 million. By contrast, during the record 2006 flood, 174 homes sustained $8.3 million in damage and 24 businesses reported $3.9 million in damage, Schwarzen said.

Property owners, cities and the county have until Jan. 23 to get their damage reports in. The county Department of Emergency Management will send those reports to state, which is expected to request a federal disaster declaration, Schwarzen said.

Damage to roads, levees, bridges and other public structure is being evaluated, he said. As part of that process, Federal Emergency Management Agency and state officials toured areas hardest hit by floods Thursday.

Closer to the mountains, Mount Index River Road off U.S. 2 is now open with a passage way through a landslide there. A mix of snow, mud and trees collapsed on the road Saturday, putting the highway out of reach for about 100 people.

In Darrington, town officials said Thursday that streets are clear, but chilly weather is keeping piles of snow from melting.

Volunteers have been making a big difference during the snowstorms and recent flooding, said Kris Krischano, spokesman for the Snohomish County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

City officials agreed. For example, sandbaggers had a part in saving downtown Stanwood from flooding and people in Arlington have made many food donations.

“The generosity of Arlington citizens has been amazing,” Badger said. “A lot of people have received help from the community.”

Nearly 90 Red Cross volunteers worked long hours running shelters, helping with the clean-up effort and encouraging people through the stress of weather-related problems. They served 850 meals, 1,300 snacks and gave away hundreds of cleanup kits, Krischano said.

The only real positive of the past month has been the help people have given each other, farmer and county employee Linda Neunzig said.

“The blessing about the snow and floods is that you remember that the farming community in this county includes the best people around, hands down,” she said. “We are trying to help each other.”

Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.

Help with cleanup

A coalition of community groups is asking for volunteers Saturday to join work parties in Stanwood and Snohomish to assist people whose homes or property were damaged by the recent floods.

Volunteers interested in helping at Saturday’s work party in Stanwood should meet at 9 a.m. Saturday at 8820 Viking Way, near the Viking Restaurant. Contact Dana Libby at the Salvation Army at dana.libby@usw.salvationarmy.org

Snohomish volunteers will gather at 10:45 a.m. Saturday. Contact David Scattergood at davidscattergood@gmail.com for location and other details.

Volunteers are asked to bring gloves, eye protection and boots or other outdoor footwear.

Report losses, damage

Farmers with damage from snow or floods should make a report to the Farm Service Agency, an office of the federal Department of Agriculture, at 425-334-3131 or 425-335-5634. Owners of homes and businesses damaged by flooding should contact Snohomish County by Jan. 23. Snowstorm damage must be reported by today. To file a damage report, call the Emergency Operations Center at 425-388-5060 or go to www.snoco.org/Departments/Emergency_Management.

Where to take debris

People disposing of flood debris can get help by calling the county Department of Emergency Management at 425-388-5060 to learn the location of collection sites nearest them. Those eligible to dump debris will be asked to show identification or a current utility bill. Materials must be separated into four categories: vegetation, building materials, household hazardous waste and household appliances. Debris that can be dumped also includes furniture, carpet, mattresses and wall board. Regular household garbage, books, clothing or tires aren’t accepted. Flood debris should not be burned.