Flooding claims homes

For every car turning into the woodsy neighborhood of Rivershore Lane in the last few days, there seems to be a packed trailer or U-Haul leaving it.

Some residents are moving out of the quiet little neighborhood 10 miles east of Granite Falls off the Mountain Loop Highway because of the force and drama with which the Stillaguamish River has moved in.

Since the season’s first flood in October, the south fork of the Stillaguamish has swallowed two houses and yards at the end of Rivershore Lane and part of the concrete cul-de-sac that led to those homes.

The combination of October and November flooding, which covered the entire neighborhood with water, also sucked away two empty lots.

Residents don’t feel that Snohomish County, the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the federal government are doing enough to stop the erosion.

"Someone has to do something here. These are our homes. These are our lives," resident Jason Fleury said. "Nobody is doing anything to help us."

Fleury bought his little blue house just three months ago.

"Flooding is one thing. We expect that living here," he said. "But watching your entire neighborhood erode away is another. I could lose everything."

County officials say they’ve tried.

Preventing riverbank erosion is the responsibility of property owners in that neighborhood, Snohomish County engineer Steve Thomsen said. Snohomish County, acting as a sort of sponsor for the project, has been working with Rivershore Lane residents since 1999 to try to develop an erosion control plan, he said.

But neighbors were never able to organize themselves and agree on a plan of action. And there was at least one property owner who "didn’t want their property touched," Thomsen said.

"So that effort failed to yield anything," he said.

Thomsen said Snohomish County is not responsible for fixing the banks, but the Surface Water Division will certainly help residents navigate the complex permitting and planning process of changing the riverbank.

"The banks are private property, and they are responsible for their own banks," Thomsen said. "But it’s an uphill battle for property owners to get banks like this repaired."

Residents have to work through a cumbersome permitting process that includes obtaining permits from agencies ranging from state fisheries to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Then, there’s the work itself, which can be very expensive, he said. Typically, in addition to adding rocks to stabilize the banks, property owners also have to do some habitat improvement for fish.

Fleury, a longtime fisherman, feels someone else should do the fixing, and is frustrated by such red tape.

"What’s worse for the river — putting some rocks in to save some houses or letting those houses and septic tanks go into the river?" Fleury asked.

The two houses that fell into the river scattered "in a thousand pieces" all over the banks, Fleury said.

Up and down the rocky banks is a smattering of random household items. There are stretches of cable and wiring and a barbecue lid. There is an entire window, and not far from it, a set of floral-print curtains. There is a wall from a shower with hot and cold knobs still attached. There is a TV, a wok, computer disks and plastic food storage containers.

There are large pieces of wood siding, metal roofing and a set of steel stairs that once led from a backyard down to the river’s edge.

One of the homes belonged to Ryan Roesbery, 22, and his stepfather, Tony Morrison. The two barely had time to move appliances and other valuables to higher ground before their home was swept away.

Roesbery said his cousin, who lives downstream, saw the home go. "He was eating breakfast, looked out the window, and watched it go down the river," Roesbery said.

Tuesday afternoon, neighbors helped Wayne Kelln load up and move his furniture.

Kelln’s home is next in line.

One corner of his back deck already hangs precariously over the river. Below, a neighbor’s broken, detached, concrete septic lid pokes out of the water.

Standing in his living room looking out the sliding glass window, Kelln said it is too late to save his home. "Next high water, this thing is going to end up in the river," he said.

Thomsen said he and other county officials will do what they can to help the neighbors. More than likely, the county will seek FEMA funding to repair the Rivershore Lane’s damaged cul-de-sac because it’s a public road.

Private property owners need to work with FEMA to figure out funding for their part of the damage, he said.

"We’re just basically still trying to mop up and restore some of our county roads that were hit by the floods of Oct. 20," Thomsen said. "We’re working at dozens of locations."

Standing in his silt-covered backyard, Fleury said he’s also worried that in the next high water, the river will back up and flood Trout Creek, which runs through his yard. If Trout Creek floods he said, it could wipe out the old wooden bridge that is the only way in and out of the neighborhood.

"But stupid us — we’re staying. For now."

Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.