Even Snoqualmie Wasn't Expecting This -- Old-Timers Say Flooding Of 1959 Wasn't As Bad

SNOQUALMIE

This is the town so accustomed to high water that it could plan an annual flood festival in November and never worry about being disappointed.

But this time was something different - even for Snoqualmie.

Right on schedule, just like another Thanksgiving season 31 years ago, the town was inundated over the weekend with muddy waters from its namesake, the Snoqualmie River. That 1959 flood is often touted as the worst ever, but it may now have lost that distinction.

Ask 84-year-old Ethel Davenport, who has lived in Snoqualmie for 48 years.

``This is the worst ever to hit this valley. It came in so fast. That 1959 flood was nothing compared to this,'' she said yesterday.

Davenport, who lives at the intersection of Beta Street and Railroad Place, said her home has never before been threatened by a flood. On Saturday, though, she had a close call. The water rose to the third step of her four-step back entry way.

While Davenport chatted, the sun poked its way through dissipating cloud cover and patches of blue sky suddenly came into view. Mount Si glistened with a mantle of light snow, like something out of a fairy tale.

But the sun and clearing skies also shone down upon the devastation left behind by swirling waters that poured into more than half the town's 550 homes, lapped into City Hall and covered the fire station floors with almost 2 feet of murky water.

Water rose to 3 feet high in parts of Mount Si High School.

Homeowners began the heartbreaking task of moving water-damaged belongings, drying out rugs, piling up unsalvageable goods to be hauled away later, and mopping, sweeping and shoveling away the castoff mud and debris the river left behind.

City Hall closed its doors to clean up, and some employees moved to the Police Department building to do their work.

This was the aftermath of a stormy weekend in which every road into the town was flooded and nearly impassable between mid-afternoon Saturday and 4 a.m. Sunday. ``At least we could use a fire engine, four-wheel-drive trucks and the county's amphibious DUCK to move people out,'' said Police Chief Don Isley.

More than 150 people were evacuated to the emergency shelter at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital, he said. Many were then transferred to the Red Cross shelter in North Bend Elementary School.

``But you know, despite the problems, people pitched in to help,'' Isley said. ``Off-duty nurses came to the hospital; police officers' wives brought in food and answered telephones. It seems a disaster brings people together - community spirit comes out.''

Edd Larson's home on Falls Street was one of those caught in the gushing waters. He spent yesterday trying to salvage what he could and cleaning up his home.

``We knew there might be high water . . . moved everything on top of the beds, but the water came up over the beds. There was nothing we could do,'' he said.

-- In neighboring North Bend, the dikes held back the river, but surface water filled low spots and caused overflows near the downtown area. The Thriftway Store in Mount Si Village was flooded, and more than 18 inches of water damaged 20 percent of the inventory at High Mountain Hardware store on Main Avenue South.

Bob Woods, owner of the hardware store, said water began pouring into his store about noon on Saturday. ``I never saw it come that fast before,'' he said.

-- Down in Fall City, the river topped its banks on the east end of town. It swept across the private campground on the south bank, surged across Highway 202 on the north side, gutted road shoulders, ripped up lawns and driveways and left behind a string of holes, some more than 6 feet deep.

-- Further north in Duvall, Highway 203 north to Monroe, which had been closed over the weekend, opened to traffic yesterday.

The main bridge of the Woodinville-Duvall Road across the Snoqualmie River had been reported washed out over the weekend. But a Duvall Fire Department spokeswoman said yesterday that the bridge now appears fine. Despite the good news about the bridge, the Woodinville-Duvall Road remained closed yesterday and was expected to be closed today as well due to water undermining the roadway surface in several spots.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

-- Pam and Eric Swanson, owners of The Sub Company in the Mount Si Village shopping center, Main Avenue South, North Bend, are collecting nonperishable food items for flood victims. Boxes have been placed inside the restaurant, and donations will be picked up by the Red Cross about every two days for distribution in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley. Excess donations will be sent to people in the Duvall and Carnation areas. Restaurant hours are 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Call 888-9822 for more information.