For many Ferndale residents evacuating amid flooding, this is not the first time

For many residents living near the Nooksack River in Ferndale, Washington this is not their first time facing floodwaters.

As homeowners along Second Avenue and Washington Street prepared to evacuate Thursday, many were taking extra precautions to protect their property and belongings.

“There’s nothing to be done about it. So I’m just dealing with it,” Ferndale resident Charlette Seaver told the Bellingham Herald.

This is the second time Seaver’s property is expected to flood in recent years. Several inches of water inundated her home during the 2021 flooding, but she said she was not as prepared for the damage.

“I spent a lot of time figuring out what I would do when this happened again,” she said.

Inside Seaver’s house, the floor was completely clear late Thursday morning. Starting Wednesday, she got all of her belongings on top of tables and sawhorses, leaving a foot or more of space below for water to rise without causing damage.

“There will be a lot of silt to clean up, but hopefully that’s it,” she said.

Around the corner, resident Joe Sumrall was preparing the outside of his house to withstand the worst of the flooding. His home also flooded in 2021, causing enough damage to require a lot of interior repair. This time his preparation looks a little different.

“I’m placing rigid foam insulation to block all the vents around the house and 4-foot liner tucked into the siding around the whole house. We’ll place sand bags around that,” Sumrall told the Herald.

Hoping to stall water from getting inside, any that passes his added protection will hopefully be mitigated by a basement sump pump. He is also lifting his belongings off the floor inside his house, just in case.

Sumrall bought the home 10 years ago. He used FEMA flood insurance to help with the damage after the 2021 flooding, and he plans to cash in on that again if he needs to.

But he said he does not want to keep having to manage floodwaters as they become more frequent.

“Dealing with this once or twice is one thing. But three or four times? Probably not,” Sumrall said.

Down the street, a garage on another property was already completely flooded. The homeowner was out of town so his nephew, Colton Moore, came with his aunt and fiancé to help move valuable items out of the water and inside.

“This property has flooded at least three times,” Moore said. “In the past, the water has reached the top of the garage door.”

Moore said his uncle has stayed put in the past when the floodwaters hit his property. With more than six feet of cement below his main living area, he has avoided having to manage water damage inside.

The Nooksack River crossed flood stage at 18 feet in Ferndale early Thursday, and hit moderate flood stage of 20.5 feet just before noon, according to the Northwest River Forecast Center. It was heading toward major flood stage at 23 feet, a peak that was expected early Friday morning.