News - Local News

POSTED: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009

Flooded roads remain closed, shelters open

The flooding may have subsided but the rebuilding of Whatcom County roads, levees, homes and businesses has just begun.

ROADS STILL CLOSED

The number of county roads damaged in last week's flood keeps climbing, with 35 on the county Public Works' repair list as of Tuesday afternoon, Jan 13.

By Tuesday afternoon, crews had almost finished repairing a section of North Lake Samish Drive washed out by a creek, said Mary Green, the county's Public Works road maintenance and operations superintendent. Roads in the Acme area were still inundated with landslide debris, and crews were working to clear Hillside, Clipper and Nelson roads, which were hit especially hard, Green said.

About 90 roads around the county remained closed in places Tuesday due to water or debris over the road.

For a complete list of county road closures, click here.

RED CROSS OPENS NEW SHELTER

The Red Cross opened an emergency center Monday night to help house and feed victims of last week's flood on or near the Lummi Reservation.

The shelter at the Wex li em community building, 2200 Lummi View Drive, will be open to flood victims 24 hours a day until the need drops off. Flood victims also can receive three meals a day there.

Eleven people stayed at the shelter Monday night, said Laura Fitzgerald, public support coordinator for the Red Cross.

She said that the Red Cross opened the shelter because there was a need for one in the area, especially near Marietta, which was severely flooded when the Nooksack River overtopped its levees last week.

A second shelter at Whatcom New Life Assembly, 2290 Main St. in Ferndale, remained open Tuesday for flood victims. A shelter at Nugents Corner has closed.

LEVEES BEING REPAIRED

Nooksack River levees were broken in at least three places during the flood, and two are still in need of repair, according to county Public Works.

One levee near River Road in Ferndale was successfully patched up during the flood. The other major breaks - one near the Guide Meridian and a levee upstream of Deming - are in the process of being repaired, said Jon Hutchings, assistant director of Public Works.

Crews are also working to repair a 100-foot section of a rock revetment (an engineered riverbank that contains rock at the bottom and cloth-encapsulated soil further up) near Everson that was washed away in the flood.

Repairs could take up to 10 days, Hutchings said.

"If we can make it through the next week to 10 days and get these emergency repairs completed, then the system will be robust enough to weather additional modest flooding events," he said.

IOWA STREET REOPENS

Iowa Street near the Interstate 5 interchange reopened at about 8:15 a.m. Tuesday after a nearly weeklong closure. The state Department of Transportation also reopened the off-ramp there from northbound I-5.

Water was still 5 to 6 inches deep in some places on the road Tuesday, including on the I-5 ramps and near Moore Street, said Chad Bedlington, superintendent of maintenance for Bellingham Public Works.

Iowa Street was one of the first areas to become waterlogged when the heavy rains began last week, but city Public Works said it could have been worse. Joy Monjure, communications coordinator for Public Works, said a break in the rain has allowed the water on the street to dissipate quickly compared to past floods.

"The interesting thing is how quickly the disaster abates as soon as the weather changes," she said.

REPORT FLOOD DAMAGE

Homeowners and business owners are being urged to report flood damage so the area can qualify for federal money. To report damage, visit Whatcom County's Web site, www.whatcomcounty.us and click the "Report Your Damage" link to fill out the online form.

For those without online access, call the Flood Recovery Call Center at 778-8500. Tuesday afternoon the call center was averaging eight calls an hour, with 22 calls in one half-hour period, Monjure said.