Here we go again.
That was the thought running through the minds of many riverfront homeowners Tuesday as persistent rains caused floods to surge for the second time in three weeks.
Paul Holleman, 44, and his 19-year-old son, Ben, stood wearing rain gear in the backyard of their rural Granite Falls home Tuesday, relieved that the south fork of the Stillaguamish River appeared to be lowering. A couple of hours earlier, that wasn’t the case.
"I figured we had lived through the worst of it" in October, Paul Holleman said. "But then drinking coffee this morning and watching it rise 3 feet in one hour, I thought maybe this is the worst yet to come."
The Hollemans trucked in 6 cubic yards of sand and filled 230 sandbags during the week in anticipation of the weather forecasts. Their neighbors on 115th Street NE and in homes across the river were hit hard by the October flood.
"We had cars floating down the road," Ben Holleman said.
A cold front passing through Snohomish County dumped heavy rain Tuesday, raising rivers and triggering a countywide flood watch.
And things could get worse before they get better. The National Weather Service forecasts periods of rain today turning to showers by evening with high temperatures in the mid-40s and lows in the mid- to upper 30s. Snow levels are expected to drop as low as 1,000 feet.
By 6 p.m. Tuesday, the American Red Cross opened an evacuation center in Sultan at the Volunteers of America Sky Valley Community Resource Center, 617 First St. Kris Krischano of the Red Cross said the center was opened as a precaution to give people a place to stay if they get flooded out of their homes or can’t make it home. He said it would stay open as long as necessary.
At 4 p.m., the Snohomish River gauge in Snohomish was at 24 feet and rising. Flood stage on the Snohomish is 25 feet, and forecasters predicted the river would crest at 29.5 feet sometime today.
The National Weather Service issued flood warnings Tuesday for the Skykomish, Stillaguamish and Snohomish rivers, as residents braced for a repeat of the mid-October floods that caused more than $10 million in damage. Forecasters expected the three rivers to spill over their banks, but officials were anticipating less destruction this time.
"We’re doing good at this time compared to October. That’s very good news," said county Department of Emergency Management director Roger Serra, adding that no homes had been evacuated as of Tuesday afternoon.
"Our soils right now are just saturated. There’s no place for the water to go," Serra said.
The Skykomish and Snohomish rivers were forecast to have more flooding this time than the Stillaguamish. The Skykomish gauge at Gold Bar crested at 18 feet — 3 feet above flood stage — a little before noon Tuesday, then tapered off throughout the afternoon.
In Gold Bar, the Skykomish River, May Creek and the Wallace River were up Tuesday evening, but not in a "panicky" way, said Cheryl Crumpler, the city’s utility clerk.
"When I went to lunch, I drove around. I’ve seen it worse," she said. "It’s up, but not all the way up."
Gold Bar residents Marlyn and Roy Sartaine, who have lived by Wallace River and May Creek for almost 40 years, say they are not concerned about what the river may do overnight.
"We’ve seen it for many years," Marlyn Sartaine said. "It’s back up into our field right now, and it’s hard to say how much more it’ll come up. But we’re not worried. We sit up high enough."
The downpour did clog storm drains across the county with fallen leaves, and water covered some streets, slowing drivers throughout the day and making some commutes longer than usual. City and county maintenance workers spent the better part of the day unclogging and pumping water out of storm drains.
Drivers faced an especially frustrating commute east of Index, where a downed tree blocked U.S. 2 in both directions from 8:30 to 9 a.m., according to the Washington State Patrol.
In Lynnwood, the storm blew down a 90-foot tree, which landed on an apartment building in the 3300 block of 164th Street SW at 3:13 a.m., Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said. The tree went through the roof and into the attic, but didn’t fall into the room of the woman living in the apartment. She was startled, but not hurt, Hynes said.
Snohomish County and 14 other counties in the state were declared federal disaster areas following the October floods. More than $146,000 in aid has been approved for county flood victims as of Monday, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA began sending out disaster-assistance checks last week.
Back in Granite Falls, several doors down the street from the Hollemans, Karen Crane and Doug Cool were refurbishing their bathroom as part of the continuing cleanup of their house, which took on considerable water during the October flood.
"My neighbor said if it happens one more time, she’s moving," Crane said. "I agree. Not again. We can’t go through this again."
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
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