Green River flooding: Have a plan, officials tell Kent residents

Diane Demeerleer remains uncertain about how much flooding to expect this winter at her Kent condominium along the Green River.

But if Demeerleer, who lives in The Lakes neighborhood north of the Riverbend Golf Course, needs to evacuate, she’s ready to head to her sister’s house in Tacoma.

“I’ve lived here four years and I love it and want to stay,” said Demeerleer, one of an estimated 1,200 people who attended a flood-related public meeting Saturday at Kent’s ShoWare Center. “But I might not want to stay if I’m digging out of silt.”

Kent city officials hosted the meeting to inform residents and business owners about what they can do to protect themselves from flooding, should the Green River overflow its banks this winter. Residents picked up maps about flood zones and evacuation routes, as well as where they can go to fill sandbags.

Partcipiants also heard presentations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the city of Kent and King County about reasons for Green River flooding, the steps being taken to prevent flooding and plans to evacuate residents, should the river top the Green River valley’s system of flood-control levees.

“We hope this helps alleviate the fears you are having,” Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke said to the crowd near the end of the meeting. “If you have (an evacuation) plan in place now, you don’t have to be afraid.”

The Army Corps expects to finish construction of a grout curtain by Nov. 1 to slow the water leaking through a damaged abutment at the Howard Hanson Dam, the Green River’s main flood-control facility. But even with the $8.9 million temporary fix, Corps officials still predict a higher risk of flooding in parts of Kent, Auburn, Renton and Tukwila, because they won’t be able to store as much water as normal behind the dam in the Eagle Gorge Reservoir.

The federal government built the rock-and earth-fill Hanson dam in 1961 to control major flooding in the Green River Valley. The abutment actually was formed nearly 10,000 years ago by a landslide. Construction crews built the earthen dam next to the abutment, utilizing it to help hold back the reservoir.

The corps plans to construct a concrete cutoff wall to the damaged abutment as a permanent fix. But it’s a complex project that could take anywhere from three to five years to finish.

“We’ll try to reduce that time period, but it can be difficult to expedite it,” said Lt. Col. James Rollins, a Army Corps deputy district engineer, to the crowd.

The problems with water storage behind the dam started when a 10-foot-wide depression formed on the embankment next to the dam after heavy rain in early January. The dam is about 25 miles east of Kent.

Dan Miller, a project manager for sales at S & S Welding, Inc., in Kent, said he found the flood meeting helpful.

“I thought it was very informative and well presented,” Miller said. “A lot of us did not understand that the problem is not with the dam itself but the abutment.”

Miller received an assignment from his company president to help develop a plan to combat flooding at the business at 22131 68th Ave. S.

“Moderate,” Miller said when asked about the risk of flooding this winter. “But we’re being prepared for the worst. We’re moving supplies to higher levels (a second level) in the building.”

A lot of residents want to know how deep the water might be in their neighborhood. City officials distributed a map of potential flooding that listed areas as high or low risk.

Tim LaPorte, city interim public works director, cautioned the crowd about how much confidence to put in that flood map. He said numerous residents had requested the maps, so city officials decided to make them available.

“The map is only a computer model of a snapshot in time,” LaPorte said. “It would be like a seismic expert trying to say when the next earthquake will be. It is very difficult to predict.”

But if higher water flows than normal come down the Green River this winter, city officials want to be prepared. Contractors with the city plan to place giant sandbags atop the levees in Kent over the next few weeks to increase the amount of water the levees can handle.

“We expect to fill the sandbags and have them on top of the levees this month,” LaPorte said. “They will provide an additional 3 feet to the safety factor.”

Despite all of the efforts to fight flooding, Demeerleer knows she must take steps herself as well.

“I’m trying to figure out what to do about my furniture,” she said. “I don’t know whether to place it in a storage unit or maybe wrap it in plastic.”

For more information about flooding, go to www.kingcounty.gov/floodplans, www.nws.usace.army.mil/ and www.ci.kent.wa.us/emergencymanagement/index.

City to host flood meeting

Residents and business owners in the Green River Valley can learn about how to protect themselves and their property this winter from flooding at a public meeting from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the ShoWare Center, 625 W. James St., in Kent.

Kent city officials hosted a similar meeting last Saturday.

Residents can learn about:

• Dam operations, interim repairs and potential impacts to themselves and their property.

• Efforts by the city of Kent and King County to respond to possible impacts.

• Resources available, and ways to help protect themselves and their property against flood risks.

The meeting will start with a 30-minute open house, followed by presentations and close with a 30-minute question and answer session.