Thousands flock to ShoWare Center to learn about flood risk

With winter flooding being predicted as not only a possibility but an eventuality, thousands of business owners from around the Green River Valley flocked to the ShoWare Center Wednesday night for an emergency preparedness symposium, hosted by the Chambers of Commerce of three valley cities and King County.

Featuring presentations by the Army Corps of Engineers, Puget Sound Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Washington State Emergency Management, the symposium offered business owners and residents advice on how to prepare for potential flooding and featured maps that showed which areas of the valley might find themselves underwater.

The symposium began with a speech Lt. Col. James Rollins of the Army Corps of Engineers, detailing the latest information on the dam and the potential for releasing water this winter.

Calling it “truly a regional affair,” King County Office of Emergency Management Director Robin Friedman said literally hundreds of people have spent hundreds of hours over the past nine months trying to address the threat of a flood which would be created if the Army Corps of Engineers are forced to release water from the leaking Howard Hanson Dam, which controls the flow of the Green River.

Friedman said emergency operations centers have been created in Kent, Renton and Auburn as well as to deal with threats to unincorporated King County

which include members of Qwest, PSE and other utilities.

“As weather conditions become worse … we will be bringing these emergency-operation centers into effect,” he said.

Friedman also encouraged business owners to get NOAA radios, which turn themselves on during an emergency broadcast, and to pay close attention to evacuation warnings.

“We don’t want to get to a point where we have to rescue you,” he said, adding that if the area around your home or business is flat, there is a potential for flooding, no matter what a map may say.

“Don’t trust maps,” he warned about those whose building appears to be on dry land on maps detailing flood possibilities. “Maps are guidance.”

Friedman also warned that people should try to leave when the warnings begin because as waters rise, the county expects to lose many of its transportation corridors, such as transit routes, and highways such as state Routes 167 and 18.

“There’s a high probability those major transportation lines will be impacted by the flood waters,” he said.

John Campion of PSE told the crowd that the utility is preparing for “if and when” the flooding occurs by moving supplies and crews in the area from the valley floor to higher ground.

He also said that rising waters could place power substations, such as the one at 220th in Kent, in peril.

“During a flood event, we’re going to try to leave the power on as long as possible,” he said. “We’ll bring people in from wherever we need to bring them in from.”

Despina Strong of the King County Wastewater Treatment division (overseeing regional sewage as well as stormwater systems) said the protection of the system was “essential,” though serious flooding could cause unforseen problems in many locations.

“This is an unprecedented situation,” she said. “The system was not designed for what we expect to see.”

Ryan Kellogg of the Hazardous Waste Management program echoed String’s concerns and warned that businesses have a liability if hazardous waste stored on their site is released.

The symposium ended with a presentation from Wendy Freitag with the state Emergency Management Division, who urged businesses to create plans in order to be able to bounce back after a flood.

Freitag told the crowd to “invest in preparedness,” including insurance, and to think of being prepared as a “competitive advantage” against businesses that are not ready.

Each of the valley cities also manned a small section of the arena’s outer ring so business owners and residents could get specific information from their city.

The most popular section in the city of Kent’s corner were the flood maps showing the potential depth of flooding for four different scenarios. However Brian Felczak with Kent Emergency Management warned everyone who looked at the four maps that there had been improvements to the levy since those maps were created.

“This is just a snapshot in time,” he said.

The maps showed possible flood depths throughout the city for flow rates beginning at 13,900 cubic feet per second and heading all the way up to 25,000 cfs.

Flood stage begins at 12,000 cfs.

The maps showed water creeping up to six feet through the entire valley in during the highest flows, with just low-lying areas collecting water in a dryer winter.

Those specific maps, unfortunately, are not available online, but can be seen at the Public Works Department in city hall.

Business owners said they found the symposium valuable and felt better prepared after the event.

“I’ve got more information,” said Chris Jensen of Sound Manufacturing, which makes specialized plastics from its location in the Kent Valley. “And I’ve got some more resources now.”

Jensen said under the worst situation on the map, he could find his business under three feet of water, but said the important thing is that they keep working as much as possible.

“As a business, we’ve got to keep producing,” he said.

Steve Weber, who runs a distribution business said his company was located “right in the middle of it all” and has been preparing for flooding for several months.

“We’ve had to be real proactive,” he said.

Weber said he was confident the cities and counties were on top of the problem.

“I’m confident now after actually seeing it in person,” he said.

Weber said his biggest problem appears to be getting to his business in the event of a flood, not necessarily a danger to the business itself.

“What if I can’t get to my facility?” he said. “I can’t operate.”

For more information, including links to other agencies and utilities, visit www.kingcounty.gov/floodplans.