Whatcom County sees flooding due to heavy rainfall

Heavy rainfall last weekend caused parts of Whatcom County to experience flooding, leading to local road closures and emergency response initiatives.

On January 31, the city of Blaine’s public works department issued a press release stating that the department had created an emergency operation center to coordinate storm response in light of the high wind and heavy rainfall.

“All crews have been dispatched in teams to identify, prioritize and address areas of localized flooding around the city,” said the release. “Public works is coordinating efforts with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office [Division] of Emergency Management who is predicting additional heavy rain and wind overnight and potentially county-wide flooding through the weekend.”

Blaine public works director Ravyn Whitewolf said that public safety was her department’s top priority during the weather event. “Residents are strongly encouraged to slow down, watch for downed power lines and respect all water over roadway signs,” said Whitewolf, whose department made sand bags available to residents outside of the public works yard at 1200 Yew Avenue.

According to assistant public works director Sam Castro, the sand bags were filled by public works staff for Blaine residents, who were alerted through notifications sent out by the city. “By Saturday, the sand bags were completely gone,” said Castro. “Everybody took what we had. But on Sunday, a lot of people returned them so that other people could use them. We appreciate the community taking what they needed and bringing them back.”

Castro said that a section of Pipeline Road was closed between Yew Avenue and Odell Street until Saturday morning. Water over roadway signs were also posted in various other locations, including on F Street near Starbucks, on H Street at the truck route and on Semiahmoo Parkway.

There were also some road closures and restrictions in Birch Bay, including Birch Bay Drive at Beach Way Drive, with water and debris over the roadway. Notices were also posted at both ends of Birch Point Loop warning of water and debris over the roadway.

“There was water over the road in a number of areas,” said John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) Division of Emergency Management, during a briefing with public safety officials on February 1. “Whatcom County Public Works was in the Blaine and Birch Bay area somewhat to their surprise last night having to put signs up.”

Gargett continued: “On Birch Bay Drive, for a number of the homes that were against the bluff, water backed up and flowed into the roads. In Blaine, there were a number of roads that had very high water, and the city of Blaine put out some water over roadway signs. Those have not been an issue today.”

In response to the weather, the WCSO Division of Emergency Management had issued an emergency proclamation. As of February 3, WCSO said minor flooding was continuing in Whatcom County, principally from Ferndale to the mouth of the Nooksack, including the Lummi Nation.

Blaine, which started preparing for the storm on Thursday, January 30, put together a coordinated effort that also involved regular communication with the Blaine Police Department.

Public works staff acted as emergency responders, and Wastewater Treatment Plant operators worked late into the night to monitor the unfolding situation.

“We fared better than most of our brother and sister agencies,” said Castro. He said that because the city council allowed the department to hire a full-time employee for storm management a few months ago, many culverts and ditches had already been cleared ahead of time. “We’ve had an aggressive maintenance program,” he said.