It was just after midnight Tuesday when Josh Kubo and Craig Garric – two members of King County’s Flood Patrol – were inspecting a flood barrier along the White River when water seeping through suddenly became a breach.
As soon as the barrier collapsed, the crew members quickly adapted from monitoring to rescue. They reported the breach to the King County Flood Warning Center and then ran door to door in the middle of the night, guiding neighbors to an evacuation route.
A King County Sheriff’s Office deputy says their swift response likely saved lives.
Kubo and Garric helped neighbors – including several children – carry pets and luggage.
They both credit Jessy Hardy at the Flood Warning Center for coordinating with the King County Office of Emergency Management in Renton, saying she was critical to activating the emergency response. At one point, Hardy suggested Garric and Kubo get out while they still could.
“I said, ‘We have two houses left – just give us a little bit more time,’” said Kubo. He and Garric departed after they helped the two final households evacuate.
Members of the Flood Patrol are department employees who volunteer for the assignment during rainy seasons. During their day jobs, Garric is an engineer and capital project manager, Kubo is an ecologist, and Hardy is an engineer.
Hardy noted that several of peers working at the Flood Warning Center had worked the previous flood monitoring shift, responding to the Desimone Levee breach on the Green River 12 hours earlier and the breach of the Pacific City Park breach before that.
Mary Strazer, an engineer and project manager by day, was one of several DNRP staff members who woke in the night and raced to the King County Emergency Operations Center in Renton to help coordinate the evacuation and then, along with Project manager Shawn Bergrud, headed south to Pacific to help on the ground.
Strazer herself was grateful for Eric O’Brien, Chief of Operations for that shift, the dozen or so King County employees who were mobilizing resources, and the City of Pacific for contributing to the emergency response.
“I’m grateful for Craig and Josh’s presence of mind to prioritize getting people out of harm’s way as quickly as possible and for Jessy’s rapid coordination and support from the King County Office of Emergency Management,” said Strazer. “This demonstrates what we can achieve when city, county, and state agencies are fully aligned to help the people we serve.”
The Flood Patrol – based in the King County Department of Natural Resources Parks – is a team of specially trained professionals whose 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.
A few hours before the breach on the White River, excavators were in position to quickly repair a levee that breached on the Green River in Tukwila because the Flood Patrol had identified the area as a risk. Earlier in the week, crews reinforced another levee on the Green River in Tukwila that was identified as vulnerable.
The Flood Patrol has worked nonstop since the historic flooding began, sharing their findings with the Flood Warning Center and other members of DNRP’s Water and Land Resources Division who work in the river basins.
“Our employees are trained, talented, and have the keen ability to quickly adapt to any situation in the moment,” said Josh Baldi, Director of DNRP’s Water and Land Resources Division. “In this particular case, they went beyond their usual duties and the swift action by our team – both those on the scene and at the Flood Warning Center – likely saved lives.”
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