Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009

Yakima River breaches banks

By the Herald staff

Flood waters of the Yakima River neared cresting Saturday night after surrounding some homes and structures in Benton County, swamping roads and forcing property owners to move livestock to higher ground.

The fast-moving water seeped into one home in Prosser, prompted the evacuation of Beach RV Park in Benton City and threatened some homes and structures primarily off Kingston, Hyde, Jones, East Ranch and 46th Avenue in Richland and West Richland, authorities said.

Benton County Emergency Services officials were trying to determine the exact number of homes and structures that were surrounded by water Saturday evening, said spokesman Steve Sautter. But it appeared the county was spared the level of damage wrought by flooding in 1996.

The Benton County Emergency Operations Center was activated Saturday morning in response to flooding. Flood waters rose steadily during an overcast day Saturday, finally approaching the projected crest of 15.5 feet at the Kiona-Benton City measuring station gauge around 6 p.m.

The National Weather Service predicts the Yakima River will fall below flood stage of 13 feet by Monday morning.

"Everything upstream crested earlier and the river is starting to recede above Benton County," Sautter said.

Flood waters seeped into the basement of one home in Prosser, Sautter said, and prompted the evacuation of the Beach RV Park. Some recreational vehicles and campers were moved out of the park, but Sautter said he did not know how many people were affected by the evacuation.

Steve and Virginia Wallace, who lost their home on Twin Bridges Road in West Richland during the 1996 floods, got help from West Richland firefighters in placing sandbags around their home Saturday afternoon. Their home is on a large island in the river.

Earlier, they moved their seven cattle to a nearby corral owned by Barker Ranch and their three horses into temporary corrals by their home. But nearly 10 tons of hay was lost, Steve said.

By Saturday night, they were surrounded by water that was more than 2 1/2 feet deep in their backyard.

"I'm thinking of putting up a sign that says, 'Watch out for gators,' " Steve joked.

Off Hyde Road, Paul and Gail Hoobler of Richland watched rising waters slowly envelop their 11-acre property, threatening their recently constructed bait shop and forcing their three sheep and 20 chickens to cluster on high ground, Paul Hoobler said.

He said the family just built Yakima Jack's Bait and Tackle, which his 14-year-old son, Jack, plans to open in the spring. Swift, debris-laden flood waters lapped at the edge of the building by mid-afternoon.

"The only way I can get in there now is by canoe," Hoobler said.

Off Kingston Road, Greg Sullivan watched as flood waters encircled his home, which remained untouched by the water at mid-day. He drove his wife and three children off the property to stay with friends, but he planned to stay at the home.

West Richland's golf course also had "a lot of water on it," Sautter said.

"We've had a number of people report water up in their backyards," he said.

By late afternoon, the rate of the rise slowed dramatically. Emergency officials surveyed the flooding by air, Sautter said.

"Lots of roads are covered with water," Sautter said.

Public works employees will be out examining roadways as water recedes for likely erosion damage, Sautter said.

Recent rain and snow and rapid melting caused the flooding, which created hazardous conditions in the Yakima and Columbia rivers from brush, tree limbs and trees being swept downstream.

Property owners along the river, warned about the likelihood of flooding days ago, were prepared.

"If you live by the river, you have to expect this," Hoobler said.