Kent city officials are planning a “fight-and-flight” response to the possibility of flooding this winter in the Green River Valley.
City workers say they’re planning to fight flooding with sandbags along the river levees, as well as sandbags and other flood-protection devices around public facilities. Flooding is expected this winter due to seepage problems at an abutment next to the Howard Hanson Dam that could cause the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release more water than normal from the flood-control facility.
If the river flows become so high that water tops the levees and floods the Green River Valley, city officials will start evacuation plans for residents and city employees.
“This isn’t like an earthquake,” said Dominic Marzano, Kent assistant fire chief in charge of emergency management, in a report Tuesday at a City Council workshop. “We will get some good notification.”
Public Works Director Larry Blanchard told the Council that if the Army Corps determines it must release more water than normal during a heavy rain that could cause flooding, it will take about six to eight hours for the water to reach the Auburn monitoring gauge from the dam.
“If we’re looking at a flow of 12,700 cubic feet per second, that’s about 2 feet below the top of the levees,” Blanchard said on the key number to help determine whether the city orders an evacuation.
The problems with water storage started last January, when a 10-foot-wide depression formed on an embankment next to the dam after heavy rains. The dam is about 20 miles east of Kent.
Flooding from the Green River could strike the cities of Kent, Auburn, Renton and Tukwila this winter because the Army Corps will not be able to store as much water as normal behind the facility because of the damaged abutment. The federal government built the rock-and earth-fill dam in 1961 to control major flooding in the Green River Valley.
Kent officials are not embarking on flood planning alone. The Army Corps, the state, King County as well as the cities of Auburn, Renton and Tukwila are working with Kent to boost protection of property and finalize evacuation plans.
“We are about six weeks away from trying to have everything in place with our partners,” said John Hodgson, city administrator.
The key issues for the regional planning group include communication to residents, evacuations and protection of people and property.
Kent officials are setting up a reverse 911 system, expected to be ready sometime in October, to notify residents of potential flooding. The city’s 1650 AM radio station, Web site, e-mails, as well as local media, also will be used for notification.
“If all else fails, the fire and police departments will drive around streets with bullhorns,” Marzano said.
City officials from Kent, Auburn, Renton and Tukwila have worked with the state and county on evacuation routes to help clear as many as 26,000 residents from the Green River Valley by heading up the hills east and west from the valley.
Officials estimate most of those residents will have their own plans where to go, whether it’s to hotels or homes of friends and family, but as many as 4,000 residents could need help with shelter and transportation.
Officials are looking into using school buses or even the Sounder train to evacuate residents who need transportation, including the homeless and people in adult care and assisted-living facilities, Marzano said.
“We are also trying to find a mega-shelter that could host residents, pets and those with medical problems at one site,” Marzano said.
Marzano added that no sites have been chosen yet, but officials are looking at potential temporary shelters to be operated by the American Red Cross in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma or Federal Way.
“Everything is not in place, but we are very well along the way to be ready for an event,” Marzano said.
For more information about how to prepare for a flood, go to www.ci.kent.wa.us/emergencymanagement. Residents will be able to get information on how to protect themselves and their property at public meetings Oct. 3 (9-11 a.m.) and Oct. 8 (6-8 p.m.) at the ShoWare Center in Kent. Go to the city Web site for more information.
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