SNOHOMISH — Monday’s floods on the North Fork Skykomish River uprooted and washed away a two-story cabin near Index.
The soggy storm also undermined a section of the Mountain Loop Highway along the South Fork Stillaguamish River, 20 miles east of Granite Falls.
Flood damage r
eports trickled in Tuesday, but city and county officials said most areas hugging local rivers were largely unscathed.
Much of Snohomish County remained under a flood warning Tuesday, but rivers had crested and high waters were receding.
The Snohomish River crested at nearly 31 feet before daybreak Tuesday. That’s about 6 feet above flood stage. The Snohomish is expected to remain at flood stage well into Wednesday.
The Arlington and Monroe school districts used alternative emergency bus routes Tuesday because some roads were under water.
The nearly 10 inches of rain that soaked the mountains between Saturday and Monday afternoon swelled local rivers, closed roads and halted trains.
Tuesday brought more rain, but some sun and colder temperatures are expected by Wednesday.
Until Monday, Donald and Arlene McDonald could look from their deck near Index and see a neighbor’s home nearby. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom cabin with a living room and kitchen was a home away from home for Mary Lindenberger.
In the darkness of the early morning, Donald heard a loud noise along the river bank.
It was too dark to see, but he sensed the house was gone. Sure enough, he said, “her house just went down the river.”
Another small cabin nearby also was perilously close to being swallowed by the Sky.
The floods gobbled up a few more feet of the McDonalds’ property. Between rain and floods, it’s an all-too-familiar story for the couple in their 70s, McDonald said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Snohomish County public works crews began repairs on a stretch of Mountain Loop Highway damaged by a slide east of Granite Falls. They were trying to shore up the slide as well as dig into the mountain along the shoulder to create a wider path for vehicles, county spokesman Christopher Schwarzen said.
“Our hope is to keep this road opened, but clearly, the situation is much worse than following the flooding in December,” Schwarzen said.
County officials will discuss long-term solutions with state and federal agencies.
If the road must be closed, there is an alternative route for the people who live in the roughly 45 homes at Silverton. It would, however, be a major inconvenience. It’s about a 50-mile detour, Schwarzen said.
Levees along rivers across the county held up well.
“No concerns there,” Schwarzen said.
Snohomish County’s Department of Emergency Management opened up a call center Tuesday to allow people to make damage reports. “This is very important as we try to assess overall damage throughout the county and the possibility of any federal assistance,” Schwarzen said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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The county also was working to make online forms available. They’ll be at www.snoco.org.
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