Bucking its oft-flooded history, King County has recorded fairly mild flood seasons the last two years. But one of the region’s wettest Septembers, including a weekend of record-setting rain, is prompting a warning to floodplain residents to guard against complacency.
“As the recent tragic flooding in Colorado has shown, we never know when a serious flood may occur,” said Flood Control District Chair Reagan Dunn in a media release. “Now more than ever it is important we take the risk of flooding seriously and take the necessary steps well ahead of time to prepare and be ready.”
The members of the Metropolitan King County Council, who serve as the supervisors of the King County Flood Control District, were joined Monday by County Executive Dow Constantine in declaring October Flood Awareness Month in King County.
“Don’t let our recent mild winters deceive you,” said Constantine. “King County has experienced 12 federally declared flood disasters in the last 23 years, and everyone must stay prepared.”
The Flood District is wrapping up a busy construction season aimed at improving the county’s levee system. And King County is gearing up for the flood season by readying its Flood Warning Center and offering new tools to help residents get up to the minute flood warning information.
“The stormy weather this weekend reminds us we need to be prepared,” said Flood Control District Vice Chair Julia Patterson. “Now is the perfect time to get ready for the heavy rains and whatever else Mother Nature has in store for King County this winter.”
King County has released a new King County Flood Warning app, to help safeguard people and their property by providing real-time flooding information for the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Tolt, Raging, Cedar, Green and White rivers, and Issaquah Creek.
The first app to be developed and released by King County, the Flood Warning app provides the most-recent critical flood data from U.S. Geological Survey and National Weather Service – Northwest River Forecast Center.
Users can see current river flows, flood stage data and forecasts, plus real-time flood phases, while hydrographs make it easy to see several days of river data and forecasts.
Development of the app was funded by the King County Flood Control District. Download the free app for Apple products at the Apple App store, or for Android at the Google Play store.
King County also offers free automated Flood Alerts that allow subscribers to receive customized alerts of potential flooding for any or all of King County’s six major river systems.
Subscribers can select to receive immediate notification about pending high water by email, text, voicemail, or all three, providing residents with the maximum amount of warning about potential high water.
Sign up for King County Flood Alerts at www.kingcounty.gov/flood or 206-477-4899. This website is a valuable preparedness resource, with all of the latest information about river levels and road conditions, plus weather reports and other critical links.
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