As we enter the second full week responding to record flooding across much of Western Washington, members of our Flood Patrol are closely monitoring multiple levees along King County rivers. Their on-the-ground field work makes it possible for crews to quickly reinforce levees before they break and mobilize a quick, coordinated response to repair levees if they breach.
It was a King County’s Flood Patrol crew that warned of an emerging problem with the Desimone Levee along the Green River in Kent on Monday. The crew saw water seeping through the levee at a location they had flagged as a trouble spot. Their observations triggered an emergency response by the county and partner agencies that quickly led to repairs and helped restore flood protection for a wide swath of Kent, Tukwila, and Renton.
Then, early Tuesday morning along the White River in Pacific, another Flood Patrol crew went door-to-door to alert neighbors after they witnessed a large sandbag wall collapse, urging them to leave the area immediately. A King County Sheriff’s Office deputy says the Flood Patrol’s actions likely saved lives.
The Flood Patrol has worked nonstop since flooding began Dec. 8, logging thousands of hours and hundreds of rain-soaked miles monitoring flood conditions, sharing their findings with the King County Flood Warning Center and other members of the Water and Land Resources Division who work in the river basins.
The Desimone Levee on the Green River and the Pacific flood barrier on the White River are two of about a dozen locations along King County rivers that are identified as locations the teams monitor closely. The team considers issues like water seeping through a levee, standing water behind a levee on the land side of the structure, and new cracks in levee-top trails and roads as signs of a potential issue with the levee’s condition.
Each site has been inspected by engineers and other experts who identify necessary emergency actions, such as pumping, adding emergency fill to small gaps, laying down waterproof fabric, adding sandbags, and more.
This work – and the work of Flood Patrol crews – requires clear access to these riverfront structures on both public and private land, so please help them do their job by staying away from levees during flooding, especially areas where damage has occurred and repairs must be made.
Crews are working quickly to shore up levees and closely patrol areas of concern, including:
Green River
- Somes Dolan
- Signature Pointe
- Nursing Home Levee
- Narita 1 and 2
- Completed repairs: Desimone seepage blankets and breach repair, Tukwila 205-Segale sinkhole, and Pipeline/Okimoto repair
White River
- Pacific HESCO barriers
Cedar River
- Tabor-Crowall
- Byers Curve
- McDonald
- Dorre Don
- Cedar River Trail 5
- Completed repair: Cedar River Trail 3
Assisting with rapid levee repairs is among the many 24/7 responses by the Department of Natural Resources and Parks since the storm began.
Stay informed to stay safe
Sign up for ALERT King County to stay informed about potential hazards and threats in your area.
You can also track current river levels at flood.kingcounty.gov and visit kcemergency.com for urgent updates and resources.
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