Flood damage overwhelms emergency response

Devastating floods that hit Whatcom County earlier this week forced hundreds of evacuations for residents along the Nooksack River and have emergency responders scrambling to understand the extent of damage to homes and tattered roads.

After heavy rainfall over the weekend, governor Jay Inslee declared a severe weather state of emergency on Monday, November 15 for 14 counties, including Whatcom and Skagit, which bore the brunt of the storm. While Blaine and Birch Bay saw record-setting amounts of rainfall that allowed people to kayak through downtown streets, low-lying areas near the Nooksack River such as Everson, Nooksack, Sumas and Ferndale were hit the worst, displacing over 300 in emergency shelters.

Whatcom County emergency responders from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) Division of Emergency Management, Whatcom County Public Works Department, Washington State Department of Transportation and city of Bellingham gathered in a quickly-assembled media briefing November 16. Emergency personnel were still responding to the historic event and couldn’t give much detail to the flood damage during the conference, emphasizing they needed more time to assess. But they said water levels were receding as the rain stopped Tuesday.

“This event was larger than our recent historical high of 1990, and that is the standard we’ve used for most of our gauging,” public works director Jon Hutchings, referring to severe flooding in November 1990. “It will be interesting as we monitor and assess the high water marks to really understand how much water actually moved down the Nooksack River, came from lowland flooding and came from mountain sources. So we can improve our ability to predict these events in the future.”

The governor visited the county’s emergency center and spoke with effected families in Everson and other east county towns. In a news conference, Inslee promised to seek federal aid for Whatcom County and those who have been devastated by the flooding.

Countywide

About 300 Whatcom County residents were sheltered in Lynden at North County Christ the King Church and Sonlight Community Church, WCSO spokeswoman Deb Slater said in a statement Tuesday evening. First responders assisted about 100 rescue calls to move residents in north and northeast counties on Tuesday; all calls were complete by evening. It’s unclear the total number of rescues that occurred in the county, but an additional 70 calls were made before 9 a.m. Monday.

Sumas officials reported 75 percent of homes had water damage Monday and most of the city’s 1,600 residents had evacuated. U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Jason Givens said about 10 Blaine agents helped with 32 rescues by boat and vehicle in Sumas.

The city of Ferndale encouraged voluntary evacuation for downtown residents and businesses Tuesday, November 16 and the evacuation orders remained in place by press time because of potential for the Nooksack River to overflow the town’s levee. Temporary shelter was made available at Ferndale High School.

On Wednesday, November 17 at 1:05 p.m., search and rescue volunteers along with personnel from Everson Police Department and Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office located the body of a male victim in a wooded area in the 600 block of Main Street in Everson. This is believed to be the body of Jose Garcia, a 49-year-old Everson resident, missing since Monday. Final cause of death will be determined by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner.

Across the border, Vancouver and the Lower Mainland of B.C. experiencedsignificant flooding as well. CTV News Vancouver reported that Canada Border Services Agency was waiving the Covid-19 test requirement for people who can’t access other parts of Canada through closed highways. There was no way out of the Lower Mainland without crossing into the U.S. The Canadian military was also reported to be helping with the B.C. floods.

Residents face flooding

Custer resident Michael Hedley called 911 around midnight on November 15 after water started to protrude into his house near Dakota Creek. County public works arrived at his doorstep with 300 sandbags, to help with the 150 he already had. Neighbors and friends worked tirelessly throughout the night barricading off water that was over six feet in his backyard.

“It’s been nonstop getting water out of the basement and cleaning the pumps,” he said Monday evening, expecting another sleepless night as the water stayed above the sandbag level.

Hedley, who moved his kids to sleeping upstairs after water entered his first-floor hallway, said he’s never seen anything like this. The flooding over Superbowl weekend 2020, the last major flooding in Whatcom County that left millions of dollars in damage, didn’t make it past berms Hedley built in his backyard. This time, the water overwhelmed the berms.

Hedley said he might keep more sandbags on hand in the future, but there’s not much more he can do because of current county regulations for cement barriers.

“How are we going to fix it? When is it going to go down? Is it going to get worse?” Hedley said of the thoughts going through his mind since Sunday night.

City of Blaine

The Blaine police department started responding to weather-related incidents around 1:30 a.m. Monday, spokesperson Brent Greene said. Officers responded to four hazards in that hour, and 10 total on Monday. No injuries were reported in Blaine.

“It would be unusual to get two to three calls a day during inclement weather, so we’re getting three times more than anything that’s unusual,” Greene said.

Greene said at one point the police department had 100 calls pending. Calls included businesses flooding, water on the roads and a fallen tree on the I-5 exit 275 onramp. The police department responded to calls for the WCSO and Washington State Patrol, which were overwhelmed by emergency response efforts.

“There are so many hazards that only the really bad ones are being addressed,” Greene said on Monday. “The small-level ones are not getting attention but are still dangerous to drivers.”

Wastewater treatment resumed to normal on Tuesday after discharge was leaking outside of the treatment facility due to the high water intake, Ziemianek said.

“This was significant, potentially the largest single-day rainfall incident we’ve had in the last 50 years or so,” Jones said. “But we were fortunate for the most part that the water stayed where it belonged.”

Birch Bay Water and Sewer District (BBWSD) had a record six inches of rain in a 48-hour period from Saturday to Monday. For comparison, the water and sewer district considers 1 inch of rain in a day significant, BBWSD manager Dan Eisses said.

The district also received 4.7 million gallons of water coming into the sewer treatment facility Monday, which is nearly double the facility’s record of 2.7 million gallons in a single day recorded in 2010, Eisses said. Despite the heavy rainfall, Eisses said everything operated well except for sewer backing up in 17 homes, Eisses said.  

Road closures

County public works director Jon Hutchings said workers have closed over 100 county roads since November 14 due to flooding, water damage and mudslides. The county is assessing over 25 roads for roadway and shoulder damage, he said, not including roads that still have water over them. “Which are fairly numerous in and around the county,” Hutchings said.

Road closures inhibited travel throughout the county, most significantly closing several sections of I-5 north and south of Bellingham. Travelers experienced two-hour delays from Bellingham to Blaine on the Tuesday after the storm and over two-dozen roads were still listed as closed the next day.

Birch Bay-Lynden Road has had major culvert blowouts. Hutchings said the section of Birch Bay-Lynden Road near Ham Road will remain closed for weeks “at least,” until workers can complete a reasonable repair of the heavily-traveled roadway that collapsed over California Creek.  

As for Birch Bay, Middleton said most of the areas covered by the newly completed berm were protected. Areas south of Harborview Road experienced flooding during high tide as Terrell Creek was backed up but the roadway was protected from wave action.

Those north of Harborview Road, in the Cottonwood area, who did not wish for the berm to be built on their private beaches, experienced major flooding and drainage issues. Middleton said the drainage improvements that came with the berm could’ve aided the area if they had granted permission for the berm to be built in their area. “They’re in a low area and low areas flood,” he said.

More road damage such as failed pavement and sinkholes will become known as water recedes in the coming days, WCSO officials said. The county’s public works department will assess damages to roads and bridges later this week.

How to donate

Whatcom County and Blaine officials are recommending people who wish to provide aid to people displaced by the flood can donate to the Whatcom Community Foundation’s Resilience Fund at bit.ly/3oA7cUZ. Donations are being matched up to $115,000.

Community Assistance Program, a local nonprofit for Blaine, Birch Bay, Point Roberts and Custer residents, has a free clothing bank to help people who may have lost clothing because of the flooding, CAP board member Laura Vogee said. Vogee said local pastors were working on east county relief efforts, but the nonprofit hadn’t received any request for flood-related assistance by Tuesday evening.

“The need for funds to these displaced families and the damages is going to be with us for the next several months,” said county executive Satpal Sidhu. “So any help we can get through this funding, in addition to what the county will do or the state government will do, [is helpful].” 

The county expects to release information on FEMA this week. WCSO encourages anyone who has had flood damage to keep as much documentation as they can, including photos.

“We’ve had our share of floods but we haven’t had anything this bad,” Greene said. “A big snow storm can do something similar but nothing like this.”

Whatcom County residents can report non-emergency flood impacts to 360/788-5311 and non-emergency road impacts to 360/778-6400.

Ian Haupt contributed to the
reporting of this article.