CLEANUP UNDERWAY FOLLOWING MUDSLIDE, FLOODING IN BRINNON, WASHINGTON

 

CLEANUP UNDERWAY FOLLOWING MUDSLIDE, FLOODING IN BRINNON, WASHINGTON

February 10, 2015

BRINNON, WASHINGTON:

A second mudslide has left residents cleaning up on Saturday following severe flooding and evacuations in the rural town of Brinnon on Friday.
Officials say a second mudslide near the site of Friday's mudslide is partially blocking the road, but not affecting any homes.

The water has receded back into the Duckabush River bank, and is down about four feet from its original height, Brinnon resident Ron Sandrini said Saturday.
No injuries have been reported, though three people attempting to flee the area were rescued on Friday after their truck became stranded in flood waters.
As heavy rain continued to fill and overflow Duckabush River banks Friday afternoon, a swift water rescue team and Jefferson County officials patrolled the area, going door-to-door on welfare checks. The majority of people who live in the area did not evacuate, officials said Saturday.
Assistant Fire Chief Ben Andrews called the scene "pretty bad," and said many homes had water in them.
Emergency responders initially rushed to the area near Shorewood Road and Kelly Road in Brinnon, off Duckabush Road, at about 1 a.m. Friday after receiving reports of a mudslide, said a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management. The slide reportedly blocked the road and damaged five or six homes.
A National Weather Service spotter reported that 4.43 inches of rain fell in the area between 4 p.m. Thursday and 7:30 a.m. Friday.

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Floodwater from the Duckabush River has inundated a number of homes on Kelly Road in Brinnon, Wash., and a separate mudslide has partially closed Shorewood and Kelly Roads.

The mudslide didn't impact any homes or cause the flooding, according to Keppi Kepplin of Jefferson County Emergency Management. The moisture level in the soil is moderate and more rain is expected through Monday, so other mudslides are possible in the area.

Instead Kepplin said heavy rains pushed the river over its banks. While minor flooding is common along the Duckabush, this level of flooding is significant for this area.

At one point, the Duckabush River was five feet higher than normal. Friday afternoon it started to recede.

Highway 101 along Hood Canal has received the brunt of the rainfall over the last 24 hours, meteorologist Lisa Van Cise said. A weather station at Green Mountain Elementary School recorded over 4.5 inches of rain near Bremerton in the last two days.

Swift water rescue teams are going door-to-door through the neighborhood to make sure everyone is OK.

Three people were rescued from a truck trying to leave the area. They were not injured, Kepplin said.

People should not drive into standing water. It doesn't take much to stop a car and it's often hard to tell how deep the water is.

The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings for the Nooksack, Grays, Skagit, Skokomish, and Elwha Rivers, as well as flood watches in a number of counties.

No injuries have been reported.