Video shows Pierce County demolish home due to flooding concerns. ‘It is bittersweet.’
A house in the Graham area would have fallen into the Puyallup River if it had not been demolished in time.
Pierce County demolished the house Tuesday due to flooding concerns along the river, King 5 reported.
Pierce County spokesperson Anne Radford told The News Tribune Wednesday that the county has been working with the property owners for the past year, discussing options to remove the house at 17118 226th Street Court East.
In November 2022 the river reached a moderate flood stage near Orting, Radford said. The National Weather Service defines that stage as “some inundation of structures and roads near the stream.”
Radford said a riverbank near the house in the Graham area “eroded significantly” due to high water flows.
“The demolition and removal of the home was necessary to ensure the house did not fall into the river,” Radford wrote in an email.
Radford said the property owners agreed to a cooperative abatement — Pierce County pays upfront, and the property owners reimburse the county for the costs.
When asked how much the county paid for the abatement, Radford said: “The final cost will be determined once the work is complete. The costs will only include actual expenses associated with the demolition and cleanup.”
Kevin Pelley told The News Tribune Friday it would have cost about $200,000 to move the house farther from the riverbank.
Radford said there are no other homes in the area that are in jeopardy. Asked about what will happen to the property, she referred The News Tribune to the property owners for information about their plans for the land.
Pelley told The News Tribune Friday they have two options: rebuild or foreclose. Their decision depends on whether they get support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the National Flood Insurance Program.
The property owners told King 5 they bought the house in October 2022.
Pelley told King 5: “From homeowner’s insurance, flood insurance, federal insurance, state, county, nothing was available and that was just extremely frustrating. We wanted to be able to recover from this. We wanted to save the house, save our dream home.”
A widely-circulated video on Shauna Pelley’s TikTok account showed the proximity of the river to the back of the house. They used to have a backyard, she says in the video, but the river took over it. Other videos on her account show an excavator clawing into the house, creating a pile of debris.
“It is bittersweet,” Shauna Pelley said in a TikTok video she posted Tuesday.
The Pelleys found a new home south of Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
