Historic flooding in December 2025 from back-to-back atmospheric rivers was an all-hands-on-deck response that required three weeks of 24/7 monitoring. With multiple rivers throughout King County experiencing extreme flooding at the same time, staff took on shifts and supported the coordinated flood response in positions outside of their normal day-to-day jobs, lending their expertise to meet the demands of emergency response and communications.
Women responded in full force during this record event. In the Department of Natural Resources and Parks, women hold diverse roles from across STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), administrative, project management, and communications fields. Women were in lead roles during the flood, managing upwards of 100 staff to deploy on rotating shifts, communicating across jurisdictions and agencies, and leading emergency repair construction crews.
One overnight flood patrol shift was made up entirely of all-women teams.
Sophie Brooks, an ecologist in habitat restoration, participated in multiple flood patrol shifts. Flood Patrol monitors facilities and infrastructure along the river when there is phase 3 flooding or higher, and take place around the clock. Flood Patrol members look for important signs of damage and monitor conditions, providing important insights to their colleagues throughout flooding.
As an ecologist, Sophie’s main work is in monitoring and maintenance for capital projects. Before a construction project, she collects information on invasive species like blackberry and poison hemlock to plan for control and tracks mature forests to ensure their preservation.
“Growing up in Washington, it is special to get to work on projects that are so close by”. – Sophie Brooks
With a background in trail maintenance, Sophie always knew she wanted a career that is predominately outdoors. She enjoys seeing the physical changes and impacts on environment.
Jamie Silva works on managing grant payments for Cooperative Watershed Grants, a King County Flood Control District grant program that supports salmon recovery priorities.
Prior to working for King County, Jamie was active-duty military, with 12 years of administrative and finance experience, and worked in contracts and finance for the City of Tacoma. During the floods, Jamie was one of the people who took on the most overnight flood patrol shifts.
“I was on patrol in the middle of the night, during the day, whenever they needed me,” said Jamie Silva, an administrative specialist in river and floodplain management.
Engineer expertise was critical throughout the flood response, from leading emergency repairs, to coordinating with local agencies and Flood Patrol staff, to providing on-the-ground monitoring. Deploying engineers across the county for emergency repairs was critical for response.
Kelsey Hopkins, a senior engineer who designs habitat restoration projects, helped manage construction for emergency repairs during the flood.
“It always amazes me to be at a construction site and see how many people come together to get the work done,” Kelsey said. “It is inspiring to be part of an organization that has so many technical professionals.”
“I never saw myself as an engineer,” said Cristina Olivares, a senior engineer who has worked for King County for seven years and designs and builds salmon habitat restoration projects.
“My dad was really into doing family camping trips twice a year. When I was looking at a college catalog, I saw environmental engineering captured my math and science background and my love for the outdoors.
“I knew exactly what I wanted to do after college after I took a rivers hydraulics class where we went to different river restoration field trips and got to see restoration project sites,” she said.
“Seeing improvement in the landscape and being part of a collaborative team with ecologists and other people passionate about bettering the environment is what hooked me.”
The Flood Warning Center is King County’s call center that opens to provide support and coordination 24 hours a day when flooding is expected. Staff respond to the public’s questions about flood conditions and forecasts, road safety, sandbag resources, and log reports of flood conditions. They also coordinate with cities and other jurisdictions on share information received from Flood Patrols.
Wendy Kara, a stormwater engineer and project manager, is a team captain for the Flood Warning Center and has served in the center since 2010.
“I knew I wanted to work on environmental issues, to help make things better,” said Wendy.
Environmental engineering was not available when Wendy was in school, so she pursued a degree in civil engineering that included water quality classes.
Brynné Walker is a floodplain program liaison, with a background in emergency management, and a particular interest in responding to natural disasters. Out of college, Brynne worked at the State of Washington and has experience responding to landslides, fires, snow, ice storms, and flooding. During a flood event, Brynné is the Emergency Management Lead where she leads coordination with the King County Office of Emergency Management.
Alex Dolk is a basin planner in her day-to-day work. During the December 2025 flood, she was a new lead in scheduling staff response – about 100 people – and helped manage operations. With a love for Puget Sound and the rivers that feed into it, she built her career in program management and land stewardship education.
“The amount of expertise in a project is incredible,” said Alex. “As a project manager, I get to work with an ecologist, who I can go to for all permitting questions; the project engineer who is focused on design; and the geologist, land use staff, and more. Together these insights make a project come alive.”
From flood response to routine operations, women are leading flood risk reduction and river restoration and improving habitat for fish and wildlife ensuring King County is a safe, thriving, and healthy place to live.
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