Locke Tours Flood-Damaged Region Governor Sees ‘Devastating’ Sights Near Aberdeen As Cleanup Begins

Dead cattle. Decks torn from houses. Shattered antique furniture. Impassable roads. Fresh-cut lumber coated with mud.

Those were among the sights confronting Gov. Gary Locke on a tour Saturday of flood damage east of Aberdeen, Wash.

“The damage was just devastating,” Locke said. “The houses that we went to had been completely flooded out. They had 4 or 5 feet of water in them.”

Joined by state Sen. Sid Snyder, D-Long Beach; state Rep. Tim Sheldon, D-Hoodsport; and several local officials, Locke visited more than half a dozen homes, farms and businesses along the Wynoochee, Satsop and Chehalis rivers.

“By the Wynoochee, it was incredible. They indicated they didn’t have much warning - the water was rising so fast,” the governor said.

The swirling, muddy water rose 5 feet in Cheryl Sipe’s newly remodeled living room, ruining furnishings which included a large white couch and an antique baby grand piano.

“It seems like a nightmare and that it’s never going to end,” she told the governor.

Some residents barely had finished cleaning up the mess left by less severe storms earlier in the winter.

“Family heirlooms, antique furniture, … their entire possessions were destroyed,” Locke said. “You could just see the despair in their eyes and hear it in their voices.”

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service lifted the last flood warning in the state Saturday as the Chehalis River continued receding.

Home and business cleanup moved into high gear as road crews were mobilized to clear mudslides and begin repairs.

Gary Smith, a manager at Mary’s River Lumber in Montesano, said the 100 millworkers there would lose a much-needed week of pay because of the flooding. Floodwaters from the Chehalis carried away many logs from the mill, and thick mud coated much of the logs and lumber that remained in the yard.

Locke also talked briefly with some residents of about 15 homes that remain cut off by a mudslide over a road along the west fork of the Satsop River. He also got a look at dead livestock - animals that had been caught by rapidly rising water before farmers could move them to higher ground.

Beverly Hert said she lost an extensive antique collection, 14 chickens and 30 of her 36 pet birds, including parakeets, lovebirds, doves, cockatoos and cockatiels.

Asked how much the damage might amount to, Hert said, “I don’t want to know.”

The number of houses damaged by flooding and mudslides after as many as four days of frequently heavy rain in Western Washington rose to nearly 500; the number destroyed reached nearly 30.

Initial reports indicate about three-fourths of the reported damage is in Grays Harbor and Mason counties, Locke said. He has declared emergencies in 19 counties.

Anyone with flood damage should make a report to county sheriff’s deputies or emergency management officials as soon as possible, Locke said.

Only if enough damage can be documented under a complex formula, which includes uninsured losses and damage to private and public property, will federal disaster aid be available, he noted.