It's Been Wet In Seattle, But Never Like This

October 20, 2003
By Scott Sistek

SEATTLE - Seattle is well-known for its rain, but it's never been this wet before.

Several homes were flooded and many streets turned into impromptu rivers as rain poured down throughout the day.

Seattle received 5.02 inches of rain Monday, breaking the city's one-day rainfall record of 3.41 inches set Nov. 20, 1959. It also broke the record for rain over any 24-hour period.

Other areas along the Kitsap Peninsula and Hood Canal received nearly 6" of rain.

Flood Warnings were up for several rivers, including the Skokomish, Nooksack, Elwha, Dungeness, Skagit, Stillaguamish, Tolt and Skykomish.

The area of highest concern is the Skagit River valley, were a major flood warning was in effect. The river is expected to crest 12 feet over flood stage around 5 a.m. Tuesday near Concrete, and 8 feet over flood stage near Mount Vernon around Tuesday evening.

Skagit County Emergency Management has started ordering mandatory evacuations in some areas in eastern Skagit County due to potential flooding. These areas include: Crowfoot Lower Concrete, Fish Hatchery Area- Marblemount, Thunderbird- along the river, Cape Horn along the river, and Cascade River Road along the river.

The Army Corps of Engineers has pretty much turned off the flow from Ross Dam, and greatly restricted flow out of the Upper Baker Dam.

Coastal Flooding

Hospital workers in Aberdeen had some difficulty getting to and from work as high waters overran the only road in and out of the hospital. The road was still passable, and ambulances were still able to get out and back, so no major problems reported there.

But houses all along Cherry Street must have thought it was Cherry Lake after their street and yards were submerged under about a foot of water.

Hood Canal Area Gets Drenched

School had to close early along the Shelton and Hood Canal areas so students could get home before many of the area roads were submerged after nearly 6 inches of rain fell during the day.

That also allowed students to help with the sandbagging efforts as residents tried to hold back the rising waters from nearby streams.

The Shelton Hospital also suffered flooding problems, but fire crews arrived in time with pumps to keep it from rising too high. They say another couple of inches higher, and the hospital would have lost power.

Several mudslides along U.S. 101 closed the highway near Lilliwaup just north of Hoodsport.

In the South Sound, the storm drains backed up on Hwy 16 Monday evening, leaving about 3-5 inches of standing water on the roads. That caused huge traffic backups on freeway.

Flooding Around Seattle

We've received numerous reports of individual houses' basements flooding across the central Puget Sound area.

In the Greenwood area of Seattle, a local branch of Washington Mutual flooded, causing it to close for a short time. Some homes near Lake City were also using pumps to get the water out.

In Shoreline, the Red Cross is working to help homeowners near NE 175th Street and NE 11th Street. There, two homes are flooded with as much as 4 feet of water.

The area is the low point between two hills, and residents there say the problems has gotten worse because water retention pond behind house was half filled in for new construction.

The city is trying to pump water out of their homes and yards, but there's nowhere to put it except back into the retention pond, where it floods the homes once again. Homeowners say it'll be 2-3 days before they dry out.

The Red Cross is also responding to reports of people being flooded out of their homes in Bremerton and Renton.

People who need Red Cross assistance should call 206-323-2345 in King County or 360-377-3761 in Kitsap County. In other areas, contact your local Red Cross chapter or visit at www.redcrosswashington.org

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