The rain rain rain came down down down...

We just seen here on our news cast pics of the flooding over there, omg,, it said also that the waters hasn't crested yet,, this is 11:00pm my time, and 2:00pm your time.

Haven't got a hold of my daughter yet,, but the answering machine picked up so i know she has power at least. Have to try again before I go to bed. She's in Tacoma.

 

Tacoma wasn't as hard hit as some of the more outlying areas. DH just called, he'll be working well after dark tonight, sounds like many businesses are flooded where he is, and lots of flooded phone terminals (what he fixes). They are also helping with the sandbagging. Wow, we made the news clear over there?!? Don't think that's happened since our mountain blew up!!

 

That sounds like Tx. was in the spring except no mud slides.I hope all is well now.

 

C.P. our news on t.v. here in upper michigan was showing the flooding your experiancing there. People having to leave their houses- how horrible. I just hope you and your family are o.k. I sure hope things get better soon as far as the floods go.

 

We always get reports of your hurricanes, big fires, extreme weather and a few things besides. Remember this is a small country, not much happening here.

 

Quick pop in before a busy day. The water is receding, and leaving such a mess! The interstate is still mostly underwater; the areas where it's receded are covered with an extremely slippery mud. The semi-trucks are sitting at a truck stop near me, the only alternate route available to them is to go over the passes and down through Eastern Wa, pretty much an all-day drive to travel what would take an hour or so on the freeway.
The hardest-hit areas are mostly rural. Rural places are nearly all on septic drainfields- those all flooded. That flood water got into their houses to the roof. Yeah, that's bad in a big way.
I'm starting to hear rumblings comparing this with Katrina, I guess the real advantage we have over New Orleans is that it's not warm enough for mold to move in quickly. I guess this came on a little less sudden than Lake Ponchetrain, but it's still spinning my mind that a few days ago I could have gone to visit friends south of me and now I don't know if their homes are even livable.
But, rural Washingtonians are tough stuff. They do what they gotta do and don't wait for someone to do it for them. An elderly lady was stuck in her home, rescue workers finally got to her to find that she had just gone . Her neighbors left their own ruined home, rowed across the pasture, and rescued her themselves.
Droopy, Norway is sounding pretty good right now except for that whole avalanche thing, lol!!

 

O, one other thing, the water was muddy. Really muddy. We are seeing pics now of peoples kitchens with thick, slimy mud covering the countertops. And in the more coastal towns the rivers have yet to crest.

 

Oof, I do hope this won't happen often. The poor people having all the cleaning up to do. I can't imagine what they must feel like.

 

Evening update- they have announced that the storm strength was equal to a cat 3 hurricane.
DH is working late tonight- the crew is picking up extra work for a fellow who had to leave early. He was informed this afternoon that his nephew had been found, killed by a mudslide in the worst-hit area. That hasn't made the Seattle news as of this hour; it might not if they decide that the slide happened after the storm.
That's the buzzword in the news now, mudslides.
I saw a photo today of what appears to be a bridge with water below and far around it. But it isn't a bridge. It's a freeway overpass. In the distance I could see the top of WalMart sitting as in a lake. I know that, near the overpass, there was a terriffic feed store jammed with small animals- it was nowhere in sight.
People are responding so thoroughly that dropoff places are actually asking them to hold off giving anymore for awhile. But they show up anyway. It's hard not to...

 

Found another site where someone is dealing with this by blogging it, some good photos here http://flood.dothelp.net/
Where I live is in the flight path of pretty much anything headed for the local airport. So many helicopters lately! Even a few uber-low-flying Chinook (military 2-prop) helicopters.
Bit of good news today. The freeway seems to be less damaged than initial fears had suggested.
A friends house, built to former floodplain specs, nevertheless had a foot of water over her hardwood floors. Her garage was flat-ground level and her car is a goner. It was good to finally hear from her though, she has health issues so was a bit of a worry.
Theres a large contingent of vintage-railroad fans, so I wasn't to surprised to see quite alot of really good photos here: http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/sho ... p?p=178801
Photo 16 rattled me here. This blockhouse was a major play area of my childhood, and was a good distance from the lake before!

 

I'm glad your friend is alright. Most material things can be replaced. I checked out your posted links. Poor, poor people.

 

Geeez Critter, i been following this post, but mostly i'm left with no words,, that is just so horriable what you an your community went thru. yeah it does look like Katrina there, but also do you remember a fews yrs back when the Mississippi flooded an wiped out everything in its path,, thats what this reminds me of the destruction,, all those people with water to their second floors,, again thats what your place reminds me of... bless your hearts. the only way was by boat..again just like your town.

I talked with my daughter who lives in Tacoma an she said they barely had rain,, just a shower more or less..

I'm glad your friend is okay an family,, but so sorry she lost it most of it,, but like droopy said, that can all be replaced. As long as she an family are fine.

 

Yup, she's about the least materialistic person I know. Comes from a wealthy family but has given nearly all her heirloom furniture to causes, they get alot auctioning the stuff off. She's so anti-snob that she deliberately cultivated a "piggy snort" laugh in her youth that she has to this day. Funny old gal.
It's raining again, but the water is receding anyway. It's all mud, mud, mud now.
I do realize that other places have been through some horriffic times, and I really appreciate the chance to post this thread. It's kinda my therapy at this point. That's my childhood home under all that poo-colored mud!

 

Wow, you guys really got it hard critter... we just had lots of pinecones and branches bouncing off the windows and super-deep puddles to jump in here. The waters got right up to the bottoms of the bridges but stopped just short of real flooding in most of our area. We did have some newer construction that had been recently allowed in floodplains (someone waving money in the right direction was our guess) - of course, they flooded (duh!).

All those folks along the coast were really hit hard, heard of some old, tall trees that were landmarks getting snapped off by the winds. :-( Most of the small towns and coastal areas are still isolated, the roads are closed by mudslides and trees.

 

Yup, up here too, Prim. The rivers are still just at cresting-height in places on the coast. And Grey's Harbor is headed into it's 5th day without power. I'm betting there'll be more pics in the news later tonight.
I'm going to try to get down my home town Saturday, taking my muck boots, high-velocity fan, mops & such. Still haven't heard from a couple of folks but I got ahold of my ol' buddy from High school. She sounded fine until she mentioned that the water had taken her memorabilia from our graduation. Gotta see if I have any of that stuff tucked away...
She and her husband were wakened at 1 am by her dog barking. She looked out to see the neighbor packing their belongings into the back of a pickup. Her husband went out to ask what was going on, and the neighbor pointed away into the darkness- down the street the water was roiling toward them . By the time they'd jumped in their truck, it was all around them. They only got to the road intersection, an area slightly above the surrounding streets. They spent the rest of the night there, watching in the dark as the water rose higher, unable to see their house, wondering what they would find come morning.
The water stopped just short of the electrical outlets, one bright spot in the tale. They lost everything in the freezer in the garage- no small thing considering that her husband is an avid hunter. Hope I can be some help to them this weekend. It's unbearable doing nothing.