Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009

Yakima River recedes with no major damage reported

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

BENTON COUNTY -- The Yakima River continued to recede Monday, giving Benton County officials a chance to get a look at damage caused by the flood waters.

Initial observations showed some roads still were closed because of water or damage from the flooding, some homeowners mopping up wa-terlogged basements and a few pastures still covered with standing water, said Steve Sautter, Benton County Emergency Services spokesman.

No major damage, however, has been reported to any homes or businesses, he said.

By 4 p.m. Monday, the river in the Kiona-Benton City area had dropped to about 10 feet, which is 3 feet below flood stage.

"We dodged a bullet if you look at our situation compared to Ellensburg, Cle Elum ... and counties on the other side of the state," Sautter said. "The levels pretty much got up to what we thought it was going to be."

The Yakima River reached a high of 15.5 feet Saturday afternoon. The difficult job for officials, however, was trying to predict just where the water would flow once it went over the riverbanks.

"We haven't seen flood levels like this since 2003 and the riverbeds have changed a little with silt and whatever," Sautter said. "When the water goes into certain areas it doesn't always move the way you expect it to."

Once the water started to drop, county and city officials began assessing damages and met Monday afternoon to discuss how things fared.

West Richland road crews immediately starting making repairs to a portion of North 46th Avenue that had been damaged by the water, said Roscoe Slade, the city's public works director. The road was fixed and re-opened by 5 p.m., he said.

Benton County didn't have any roads closed and all weight restrictions that had been in place were lifted Monday.

Richland seemed to have been affected the most by the flooding river, with several roads still posted as closed, said Pete Rogalsky, Richland's public works director.

Portions of the following roads are closed north of Van Giesen Street: Kingston Road, Gomer Road, Hyde Road and Jones Road.

"There's damage from the water, either washed-out pavement, debris on the road or standing water still," Rogalsky said. "... They are open or available for local traffic," he said, but officials were encouraging drivers to avoid those roads.

The roads are expected to be closed for at least a couple of days until the water dries up and crews can get a better idea of how much repair work will be necessary, he said.

As for property damage, Sautter said he knows some basements are filled with water and there's likely problems with some septic tanks and wells.

Alex Stoops knows first-hand how the flood waters can wreak havoc with septic systems.

He, his wife, Merissa, and their five children ranging in age from 2 to 13 are trying to get things back to normal in their rental house at 2724 Van Giesen St., after their septic system flooded and backed up into the basement.

"It was horrible all weekend," Stoops said. "We actually stayed in our bedroom and put candles on just so we couldn't smell it. It was just horrid. Now it just smells of bleach because I bleached everything today."

The kids stayed at a relative's house over the weekend because of the problems. Three children had their bedrooms in the basement, so they're displaced until things can get fixed and cleaned up.

The Richland family's problem right now, however, is that their landlord left over the weekend to attend a relative's funeral in China and won't return for eight days, Stoops said. They're stuck waiting until he gets back before the septic system can be pumped and repairs can be made.

"All we can do right now is just watch the levels to make sure it doesn't back-flow again," Stoops said.

Stoops also has to start tallying up damage estimates.

Benton County Emergency Services officials have linked damage forms to their website for residents and business owners to fill out. To complete the form go to www.bces. wa.gov.

Local ranchers and farmers should also check with the Washington Department of Agriculture (www.agr.wa .gov) for information on disaster assistance.

Officials need the damage estimates to qualify for federal disaster assistance for the county.

Sautter said the state likely should receive federal disaster assistance because of all the damage on the west side, and he wants to make sure Benton County is included among those that get some help.

He estimates the county needs to have suffered about $400,000 in damages to qualify for assistance.

"With the amount of potential road damage that we have, right now our estimate is we're not going to have any trouble meeting that," he said.

The frustrating part, however, is that private parties are being asked to estimate their damages, but there is "very little money available to the private sector as far as homeowners getting recovery for damages," Sautter said.

Emergency officials are asking people to use common sense and stay away from flooded areas unless they need to be there.