Stanwood braces for flooding

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, November 5, 2006

Stanwood city officials were bracing for flooding Monday night after rivers in Western Washington rose so quickly that state and county officials declared flooding emergencies.

Standing on the banks of the Stillaguamish River in Silvana, entire trees could be seen floating by in the rushing water.

“I’ve never seen this much debris come down. It looks like a doggone forest,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officer Rick Oosterwyk said.

An emergency management headquarters was set up in Stanwood’s fire station. Flooding could occur at any time, warned Stanwood Fire Chief Michael Ganz said.

“Hopefully it won’t be as bad as projected, but we have to plan for the worse case scenario,” he said.

The Stillaguamish River is expected to flood at about 10 p.m. tonight. Officials were warning business in the downtown Stanwood to move computers and other valuable equipment, Ganz said.

City and school district officials were meeting to decide is school should be cancelled Tuesday.

Farm land in the area was flooded and high water covered parts of the Pioneer Highway Monday. Some cars still tried to get through before Snohomish County officials were expected to close the road.

The actions taken in Stanwood just part of Snohomish County’s day-long reponse to flooding that closed schools, blocked highways and had emergency teams called to high water areas to rescue people from their homes.

With predictions that flooding in Western Washington could hit record-breaking levels, Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency in Snohomish and 17 other counties.

In Everett, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon also proclaimed a flood emergency Monday afternoon.

The declarations followed a National Weather Service bulletin issued earlier today warning of severe and possibly record-breaking flooding on rivers throughout Western Washington, including five in Snohomish County.

A flood warning included the Skykomish River near Gold Bar, the Snohomish River near Monroe, the Snohomish River at Snohomish, the North Fork Stillaguamish River near Arlington, the South Fork Stillaguamish River near Granite Falls and the Stillaguamish River at Arlington.

Rescue crews continued throughout Monday to evacuate people in the county’s river valleys stranded by the high-rising water.

Snohomish County officials are urging people not to wait to the last minute to evacuate from their homes if water is encroaching or they have had past flooding problems.

“If water is encroaching or you’ve been flooded in the past, pack up and leave before it’s too late. Once you’re in trouble, it takes a lot of resources for one area, taking them away from all over,” said Chris Badger, emergency planner for the county Department of Emergency Management.

Areas that were evacuated in the floods of 1990, 1992 and 2003 are likely to be hit again, Badger said.

Flooding prevented the Arlington School District from providing transportation for some students to get home this afternoon.

By 4 p.m., there were about 50 students waiting to be picked up from Arlington High School, Post Middle School and Eagle Creek and Trafton elementary schools.

“We will keep them until their parents can come get them or have one big slumber party,” said Misti Gilman, a school district spokeswoman.

The Darrington School District plans to start school two hours late Tuesday because of weather conditions but could cancel school if things were to get worse. There will be limited bus transportation due to water over roadways.

Some school programs have been cancelled. Transportation to the high school Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center in Mukilteo has also been called off.

About 1 p.m., a Snohomish County sheriff’s office helicopter rescued a few people stranded on a sandbar in the Skykomish River near Sultan, sheriff’s deputy Rich Niebusch said.

Water surrounded the area just south of Sultan, where several transients had been camping. Some of those people refused earlier warnings to evacuate and the helicopter crew had to fly them out.

Sultan Police Chief Fred Walser said the water has been rising fast in his city. There is flooding at both ends of town and traffic along U.S. 2 is very heavy.

One disabled man was evacuated out of his apartment in Sultan after it was surrounded by water. Walser said the town is preparing for massive flooding, like people saw in 1992.

“We’ve got a bunch of looky-loos stopping on the bridge to take pictures,” Walser said. “We need people to stay out of the area. This is the strongest system I’ve seen while I’ve been out here. The river is coming up really fast.”

Just across the Skykomish River and south of Sultan, Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies were trying to reach two people trapped inside their home in the 32000 block of Mann Road Monday afternoon.

Water flooded their home and they were perched on top of their bed. Sheriff’s deputies were unable to reach them with the helicopter. They were working to get a hovercraft to the area to reach the people.

In Granite Falls, two people were trapped in their home as Jordan Road became a swift-moving river.

Pauline Lindsey and Carl Gott waited inside the house with several pet cats as rescue crews from around the county tried to reach them. Attempts to reach the married couple with a boat and then with a kayak failed because the water’s strong current carried debris including a swing set, furniture and other large objects.

Crews sent a hovercraft into the water just before 2 p.m. to rescue them. “We’ve been through this before but it is a bigger deal this time,” said Gott, who is 65. “Everything will be fine. It is just a mess to clean up.”

Evacuation centers have been set up at the fire stations in Robe Valley, Granite Falls and Sultan.

The American Red Cross Snohomish County Chapter has opened three shelters to house people displaced by flooding, said Kris Krischano, an agency spokesman.

The shelters are at: Granite Falls Middle School, 205 N. Alder Ave. in Granite Falls; the First Congregational Church in Monroe, 301 Lewis Street, Monroe; and the Stanwood High School gym, 7400 272nd St. NW, Stanwood.

The shelters will provide food, beverages, cots, blankets, comfort kits, hygiene items and toothpaste. People should remember to bring their medications. Pets are not allowed.

The agency suggests people take their animals to a pet-care facility before coming to a shelter.

The Jordan Road area, near Granite Falls also is hard-hit, with people walking waist deep in water in their front yards.

Kara Rhoades, who lives close to the flooding, said that water was up to the top porch steps of some houses along Jordan Road.

“People were saying that the water could reach 16 feet today,” she said. “If so it could take out the Jordan Bridge.”

At least 15 roads have been closed throughout the county because of flooding.

This includes Highway 530, which has water over it just east of Arlington. The highway is closed, and traffic is being turned back. Highway 530 is the main route to Darrington.

Ben Howard Road near Monroe also is closed.

More information on road closures can be found at http://www.co.snohomish.wa.us/PWApp/roads/emclosure/index.html.

The Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe began sheltering livestock displaced by flooding late Monday morning.

“We just received seven horses,” fairgrounds manager Mark Campbell said. He didn’t know where the horses had come from. Campbell said the facility has 402 stalls, plus outdoor pens and arena space for livestock.

“If we get more than that, the next step in the plan is to host animals in the speedway. It’s all fenced in,” said Campbell, who added that severe flooding brings evacuated animals to the fairgrounds every five years or so.

Around 1 p.m., the Arlington School District announced it will not be transport students east of Arlington and north of the Stillaguamish River on Hwy 530.

School was closed in the mountain community of Index today after the Skykomish River was spurred out of its banks by heavy rains.

Candy Mattila, 28, an education aide at Index Elementary Schools, said children were sent home at about 10 a.m. today because of concern over the rising water. She was at the school late this morning with her two children and two others who had no easy way home because of flooded roads.

“I’ve never been flooded like this,” she said.

Index Elementary School will be closed again Tuesday.

At 10:20 a.m., the Granite Falls School District decided to cancel afternoon kindergarten and its pre-school programs today because of flooding.

“We have some roads we can’t get to,” said Kathy Grant, a school district spokeswoman.

Areas of concern included sections of Jordan and Engebretsen roads and the Mountain Loop Highway in the Robe area, she said.

In the Sultan School District, there was no bus service along Skywall Drive and Dyer Road east of 10th Street because of flooding.

About 1,000 homes in Mukilteo lost power shortly after 9:30 a.m. Monday, but were back up within the hour, Snohomish County Public Utilities District spokesman Mike Thorne said. About 400 homes throughout the county were still without power late this morning.

Power outages are expected to occur throughout Snohomish County as long as the wind and rain persists, Thorne said.

The Snohomish County Red Cross has set up an emergency operations center at its chapter office in Everett. It will be staffed until 7 p.m. People needing Red Cross services should call 425-252-4103.