No major road closures after heavy rains and floods across Pierce County, but stay tuned
First responders in Central and East Pierce County were busy on Friday closing roads and rescuing residents from rising waters, but they say Saturday was quieter than expected.
Firefighter crews responded to a water rescue on Friday afternoon, when two residents were stranded on an island in the middle of the White River off of the 8th Street bridge in Pacific, East Pierce County Fire & Rescue’s Assistant Chief Kevin Stabenfeldt told The News Tribune.
They were trapped by the rising river currents and could not get off the island. Crews used rafts to reach them and bring them to safety, Stabenfeldt said. There were no major injuries.
Heavy rain hit western Washington late this week, drenching much of the area.
Pierce County weather monitoring stations reported that over the last week, the Foothills saw nearly 4 inches of rain, Puyallup had 3.14 inches of rain, and Tacoma had 3.03 inches of rain.
By Saturday morning, the waters had calmed. In East Pierce County, there have been no minor impacts to roads, and some rivers are even receding, Stabenfelt said.
“Several rivers are running over their normal capacity, but hopefully today the water recedes over the next couple of days,” he said. “Carbon [River], White [River] and the Puyallup [River] are in a good spot today.”
Areas that have historically flooded like South Prairie and Sumner are not in peril.
Rivers on the cusp of flooding announced by the National Weather Service on Friday afternoon included Pierce’s South Prairie Creek, the Nisqually, and the Puyallup rivers.
“This is expected to be a long duration event of breezy/windy conditions extending into Monday,” a NWS tweet said. “With saturated soils, this increases the possibility of fallen trees/power outages.”
Some areas, like Puyallup, are still under a flood warning. Puyallup announced the closure of the Riverwalk Trail, which sits along the Puyallup River.
Much of Mt. Rainier has been closed. The Carbon River has “completely washed out” Fairfax Forest Reserve Road East, according to official social media statements from Mount Rainier National Park. The Carbon River entrance is shut down.
“Recreational access is extremely limited, and hikers and bicyclists will have to navigate off trail through dense rainforest to access the Carbon River Trail,” the Facebook post said.
This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 2:06 PM.
