Flooding Again? Not Quite

by Lin McNulty

Sandbags installed to divert flood waters from the PO building. Photo: Lin McNulty

Another round of flooding was barely averted today in the village of Eastsound due to some advance planning as .83 inches of rain deluged the island in a very short period.

Moana Kutsche and Brian Ehrmantraut, owners of the building in which the Post Office is located, were on the scene early and with some help from Orcas Island Fire and Rescue were able to install sandbags to divert flood waters. “For awhile, however,”  says Ehrmantraut, “we also had a bucket brigade going to move the water away from the building.”

Assistant Fire Chief Mik Preysz stated that in addition to helping out at the PO building with sandbags and pumps to “engage the water” and move it around the PO, they also provided sandbags at Montessori School, and helped to clean out some gutters at Kaleidoscope. It is OIFR policy, says Preysz, “to check for possible dangers in these situations and help out where possible.” OIFR has a small supply of sandbags, but not sand.

Hardest hit by the recent flooding, Stephanie Tillman, owner of Orcas Outfitters says they plan on being open on Sunday. Photo: Margie Doyle

County Public Works personnel were out early checking storm drains in the village core. They provided sandbags at Templins building, housing Ray’s Pharmacy and Orcas Outfitters.

Public Works has a small stockpile of sandbags as well as sand, although it is not available to private property owners.

At this time, there is no publicly-available source of sandbags, other than from local merchants. These sandbags, however, are empty—no sand inside. “If we we get in a really bad situation,” says Russ Harvey, Public Works Operations Manager, “all bets are off.” No one from the County Department of Emergency Management was available for comment about where to obtain sandbags should this weather pattern become more prevalent.

The intersection of North Beach and Mount Baker Road experienced some flooding, as well. When asked if this problem would have existed prior to the recent roadwork, Harvey explained that the new construction is still “tender,” and has not completely set into place. So, no, the old road would not have had a problem, but neither should the new one once it is fully packed down.

National Weather Service advises the forecast for the next 24 hours (Saturday evening into Sunday) will bring us a High Wind Watch, but no indication of monsoon-like rains:

LOCAL WIND GUSTS OF 45 TO 50 MPH WILL OCCUR WITH A STRONG FRONT
THIS AFTERNOON. ANOTHER STRONGER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL ARRIVE AROUND
SUNDAY EVENING…WITH A CHANCE OF DAMAGING HIGH WINDS OVER
PORTIONS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON.

…WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM PDT THIS EVENING (Saturday)…

…HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE
SUNDAY NIGHT…

* TIMING…ANOTHER STRONGER FRONT WILL REACH THE AREA SUNDAY
AFTERNOON AND NIGHT.

* WIND…TODAY SOUTH WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS AROUND 50
MPH. LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT SOUTHEAST WINDS SHIFTING TO
SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH
A STRONGER SYSTEM.