Hall Creek jumped its banks in Mountlake Terrace during torrential rains on Oct. 20.
A few homes along the creek were flooded by the overflow.
No big problems were reported in Lynnwood on Oct. 20, city officials there said.
Mountlake Terrace resident Jean Dahlberg, who lives on the northeast side of Lake Ballinger, said Hall Creek, which runs behind her back yard had flooded her back yard and was rushing into the street and very near her neighbor, Linda Faires’ garage.
“My backyard is filled with about six inches of water,” Dahlberg said, “This hasn’t happened in the past two years and it’s never come into our house – I hope it doesn’t, but today it is gushing down the street and toward Linda’s garage.”
Dahlberg said Mountlake Terrace public works employees were at Faires’ house near 230th Street SW, sandbagging the area to prevent the water from entering the residence.
“That seemed to be helping,” Dahlberg said about the sandbags.
Faires said this is the third time since 1972, when she moved to the house, that she has had to call the Mountlake Terrace public works department to help her prevent the creek from running into her garage.
“If it wasn’t for Mike Shaw, the storm program coordinator and his crew at Mountlake Terrace, I would’ve moved a long time ago,” Faires said.
Faires said she had gone to do an errand and when she came back she noticed the water rising quickly from the creek. When she went back outside to check the level, the water was coming toward her garage.
“If it wasn’t for the Mountlake Terrace pubic works team there would’ve been water all over inside my garage,” she said, adding that water hadn’t gotten into her garage since the big winter storm of 1996/97.
“I think (Oct. 20) was a fluke, we don’t usually get that much rain that quick and heavy,” Faires said.
Mountlake Terrace public works director Larry Waters said many areas along Hall Creek in the city were a challenge Oct. 20.
The creek, he said, also jumped it’s banks at 216th and 220th Streets SW in Mountlake Terrace, the north and south side of the Premera Blue Cross buildings.
Waters said the city had 216th closed down for at least eight hours Oct. 20 and a partial road closure on busy 220th Street SW.
“The water was about two feet deep on 216th, Waters said, “and about a foot deep on 220th.”
City workers were out all day directing traffic through the water on 220th, he said.
“We’ve had people there to get people moving though it – to keep things flowin’,” Waters said.
Waters said along with at least three houses being flooded along the creek, there was also one accident on 216th before crews closed the street. Also, a semi truck had to be towed out of the water because it tried to go through it too fast, he added.
Other than those areas, Waters said “things are doing pretty good in Mountlake Terrace, but we’re keeping an eye on all the traditional flooding areas.”
Lynnwood’s interim public works director, Loren Sand, said while Monday, Oct. 20 was very wet in Lynnwood, all traditionally flooded areas in the city were controlled. Sand did say there was a road closure in an unincorporated area of the city, however, on Maple Road.
Brier officials also said there were no flood problems in their city.
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