More than 40,000 urged to evacuate Pierce County homes – so far

Emergency officials urge thousands in Pierce County to flee to higher ground. The worst flooding in decades is expected to continue through Friday.

JASON HAGEY; jason.hagey@thenewstribune.com
Last updated: January 8th, 2009 06:24 AM (PST)

Transportation officials were monitoring the Puyallup River, and warned that they might have to close I-5 at Fife as well.

“This is one of the most significant flooding events in the last 20 years,” said Ted Buehner, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle.

There were no reported injuries or deaths, but officials responded to more than a dozen calls for rescue.

Officials urged 26,000 people – the entire Orting Valley – to leave their homes Wednesday afternoon as the Puyallup River rose. Orting Mayor Cheryl Temple said officials hadn’t made such a recommendation in 22 years.

Another 12,000 people were asked to evacuate part of Puyallup, and 6,000 were asked to vacate part of Fife.

“This is the worst flood of record since 1920,” said Randy Shelton, chief of Orting Valley Fire & Rescue.

Added Rob Harper, spokesman for Washington Emergency Management:

“This is the largest evacuation in scope and scale. We haven’t dealt with something like this before. It’s hitting more populous areas and an industrial area – it has a much more devastating impact on the economy.”

Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy declared a state of emergency in the county, and Tacoma city officials did the same over concerns that the Puyallup River threatened the city’s central wastewater treatment plant.

The City of Puyallup also declared a state of emergency, as did Lewis County.

The rain was expected to stop this morning, and mostly dry weather was forecast for the next several days, with only some light rain predicted Saturday morning.

But once the rain stops, it will take awhile for the flooding to recede and the avalanche and landslide risk to subside, Buehner said.

10 A.M. CRESTING FORECAST

The Puyallup River was forecast to crest at 10 a.m. today at 31.5 feet in the City of Puyallup. It was forecast to fall back below flood stage sometime this afternoon.

The Port of Tacoma, where the Puyallup River spills into Commencement Bay, might face flooding, too, a possibility that could shut down cargo transportation dependent on rails and I-5.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, hoping to avoid a worse problem, dropped off 17,000 sandbags to try to protect Tacoma’s wastewater treatment plant near the banks of the Puyallup.

Warmer temperatures and heavy rains were melting snow that was dumped on the mountains during a weekend storm, with 10 inches of snow melting in a 12-hour period at Snoqualmie Pass, about 50 miles east of Seattle, said Andy Haner, another National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle.

Rainfall totals for the 24 hours ending at 9 p.m. Wednesday included 5.6 inches at Marblemount in the Cascade foothills east of Mount Vernon; 5.48 inches at Glacier, near Mount Baker east of Bellingham; 4.45 inches at Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park; 4.75 inches in Olympia; and 6.5 inches at Snoqualmie Pass.

Throughout the state, 62 highways were closed Wednesday, including all of the Cascade mountain passes and I-5 in Lewis County. Highway 410 was closed in Sumner, and part of Schuster Parkway was closed in Tacoma because of a mudslide.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for 19 rivers in Western Washington, and an avalanche in the Hyak area east of Snoqualmie Pass damaged some weekend recreation homes.

In Tacoma, Tacoma Power cut electricity to Salmon Beach early Wednesday after a landslide knocked a tree into a power line, causing it to arc. About 100 customers were without power for part of the day until crews isolated the downed line and restored power to about 80 customers. Officials didn’t know when they might be able to restore power to roughly 20 remaining customers in the area, spokeswoman Chris Gleason said.

Later in the day, landslides and street flooding prompted closures of parts of Schuster Parkway, Ruston Way, East 88th Street and McKinley Avenue in Tacoma.

In Puyallup, some roads near the intersection of River Road and Highway 161 were already underwater Wednesday afternoon, as was Puyallup’s Riverfront Trail.

Amtrak canceled service between Seattle and Portland and Seattle and Spokane due to flooding. The Nisqually entrance to Mount Rainier National Park was closed, and Yelm schools sent students at Lackamas Elementary School home early because of concerns that the Lackamas River would flood Bald Hills Road.

School was canceled today in the Puyallup, Orting and Chief Leschi school districts, and at Wilkeson Elementary School in Wilkeson, and was opening late elsewhere.

‘TOO DANGEROUS’ TO STAY

In Orting, officials gave up sandbagging and went through town with firetrucks and loudspeakers urging people to leave.

“It’s too dangerous,” said Ed Troyer, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman. “The water is coming over the top of the sandbags.”

Officials went door-to-door in the Village Green and White Hawk Prairie subdivisions.

Orting resident Kelly Hudson, 26, rushed home from work about 1:30 p.m. to pick up her daughter, her dog and some belongings to take to a relative’s house in Graham.

She said she’s sure she didn’t gather everything she needed as she hurried to evacuate. She lives on the outskirts of town near South Prarie and estimated her home lies about 300 yards from the Carbon River.

“It’s very nerve-wracking,” Hudson said. “Gathering your stuff so quickly, it’s hard to judge what’s important.”

Officials from across Pierce County gathered at the Incident Command Center at the Graham Fire & Rescue station.

Troyer warned burglars that deputies will be patrolling evacuated neighborhoods.

“We have teams of people out specifically for that,” her said. “If anybody gets caught stealing or burglarizing a house, or they’re in a neighborhood they shouldn’t be in, we’re making room in the jail for them.”

At the Voight Creek Hatchery in East Pierce County, flooding claimed 60,000 chinook fingerlings and threatened the entire stock of chinook, coho and winter steelhead – 3.3 million fingerlings and yearlings.

Water in the hatchery building at 19112 Pioneer Way E. was more than 3 feet deep. The rising water covered electrical boxes that control hatchery pumps. Firefighters evacuated hatchery employees Wednesday morning.

“We are so helpless,” said hatchery manager Jill Phillips, fighting tears.

At Surprise Lake Middle School in Milton, nearly 50 people had arrived by 7:15 p.m. seeking shelter and higher ground at Fife’s shelter.

They played board games and basketball, and munched on muffins and granola bars.

Many came for shelter from Fife’s Radiance and Saddle Creek subdivisions, near the Puyallup River, said Kristi Richards, a Fife parks worker who helped organize the shelter.

Organizers planned to have people sleep overnight on mats in the wrestling room.

More than half a dozen people dropped by to help.

One family gave $100 worth of pizza.

“The community is just totally rallying together,” said Richards.

Jason Hagey: 253-597-8542

The Associated Press, The Seattle Times and News Tribune staff writers Stacey Mulick, Mike Archbold, Brian Everstine, Steve Maynard, Melissa Santos and Debby Abe contributed to this report.

Originally published: January 7th, 2009 11:49 PM (PST)