High winds, floods close highways, cut power, phones
A house at 180 Williams Court in the Triton Cove area south of Brinnon rests about 20 feet off its foundation, knocked off by floodwaters Monday afternoon. The gushing water seen in the foreground is where the driveway to the house is located. No one was in the house at the time. -- Photo by Evan Cael/Peninsula Daily News
By Paige Dickerson, Peninsula Daily News
Print This |
Email This
Recent Headlines
Suit filed to block hatchery salmon in Elwha River -- 2/9/12 -08:19 PM
Nominate volunteers for Clallam County Community Service Award -- 1/21/12 -09:01 PM
Nominate your community hero for Jefferson County Heart of Service award -- 1/18/12 -09:19 AM
Monday's highest winds were reported at Clallam Bay, with gusts ripping through the town at 90 mph.
Winds are expected to be calmer today, and rivers are expected to recede.
"There will be numerous showers and it will be breezy but not as windy as [Monday]," said Johnny Burg, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Seattle.
"Through the Peninsula, it will be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers - but the winds will calm down."
On the East End of the Peninsula, U.S. Highway 101 remained closed south of Brinnon, where a house was knocked off its foundation by floodwaters from a nearby creek.
On the West End, U.S. 101 was also closed at Lake Crescent and at Bear Creek near Sappho.
State Highway 110 between Forks and LaPush on the Pacific coast also was closed by floodwaters.
"We don't have any times when these routes will reopen," said Karri Workman, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
Power was lost to about 6,000 Clallam County customers on the West End.
East Jefferson County power customers were luckier, although about 500 near Brinnon were reported without electricity until evening at the earliest.
By late afternoon, about 1,000 around Joyce had power restored, but customers in Forks, Neah Bay, Clallam Bay, Sekiu, and LaPush were likely to have no power through the night.
Most of those communities were without telephone service as well.
"We have two contract crews who came in from out of town, and we borrowed one crew from the city of Port Angeles," said David Proebstel, chief engineer for the Clallam County Public Utilities District, which provides power to the West End.
Here is a rundown of storm-related problems in affected North Olympic Peninsula communities:
Lower Elwha
The Elwha River was expected to reach record flood levels of 24.6 feet, said Bob Martin, manager of the Clallam County Emergency Management Department.
Although originally a few families on the Lower Elwha Klallam Reservation were expected to evacuate their homes, county emergency managers determined by late afternoon that it was unnecessary.
Although the water in the Elwha is controlled by two dams, neither offers flood control, said Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman.
"Most of the floodgates are open on the dams," she said.
"They don't have any flood control function.
"When the river gets higher they have stowaways that are opened."
Forks
Forks residents were among the thousands who lost power, the PUD's Proebstel said.
And with U.S. 101 blocked off at Lake Crescent and Bear Creek, crews had no way to reach the area to begin repairs.
"The highway to Forks is blocked off, but as soon as we can get through we'll send a whole bunch of people that direction," Proebstel said.
Two state Transportation workers were taken to Forks Community Hospital when a tree fell on their vehicle, temporarily trapping them inside.
Neither one was seriously injured and neither was expected to spend the night in the hospital, said Transportation spokeswoman Kelly Stowe.
The Bogachiel River crested at about 41 feet - 4 feet above flood stage - about 4 p.m. on Monday before beginning to recedes, Burg said.
Clallam Bay/Sekiu
The town of Clallam Bay apparently reached the unofficial North Olympic Peninsula wind tally for the storm when a gust of about 90 mph was recorded, Burg said.
About 4.5 inches of rain fell in the area, and sustained winds ranged from 20 mph to 40 mph. Most of the highest gusts hit 70 mph.
State Highway 112 near Clallam Bay was closed Monday near the junction with Highway 113, Transportation's Workman said.
Workers were expected to begin clearing the way today, which would allow for extra Clallam County PUD crews to begin repairs on power lines in the area.
Neah Bay
Neah Bay residents also remained without power Monday night.
High winds created 40-foot waves near the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
One of them hit a 720-foot container ship, the Matson Kauai, after the departing ship was an hour west of Neah Bay.
The ship sustained damage to its steering and navigation systems, and the Coast Guard dispatched the rescue tug, Gladiator, which escorted the Matson Kauai as far back as Port Angeles.
The freighter then picked up a Puget Sound Pilot and continued on to Seattle, escorted by the tug Jeffrey Foss, said Fred Felleman, Northwest consultant for Friends of the Earth.
The incident is an example of why the tug is stationed at Neah Bay, Makah Tribal Councilman Micah McCarty said.
"If it can't see where it is going or can't steer, it isn't able to make headway in the storm, which increases the chances of something disastrous happening," said Chad Bowechop, Makah tribal ocean policy adviser.
"We were absolutely relieved that the tug was able to lend a hand in this case."
Brinnon
Flooding closed U.S. 101 at Canal View Lane in the Triton Cove area south of Brinnon on Monday.
At about noon, the highway was covered with about 4 feet of water flowing from the mountains to Hood Canal, said Brinnon Fire Chief Bob Herbst.
Herbst said he drove a fire truck through the flood, and the high water fell just below the headlights.
The water had receded to about two feet by 3 p.m., but the highway remained closed Monday evening.
It was expected to be reopened by midnight, Herbst said.
About 500 Brinnon residents lost power during the storms, said Tracy Colard, with the Mason County PUD which serves the area.
Power was restored for most of the customers by evening, he said.
All along Highway 101 in Jefferson County, waterfalls of runoff striped the roadside, gushing dirt-colored water onto the highway.
Perhaps the most severe event from the storm was a house at 180 Williams Court in Triton Cove south of Brinnon.
It was knocked off its foundation from the muscle of moving water.
No one was inside the house when it slid about 20 feet off its foundation, but the structure suffered excessive damage.
East Jefferson County
No outages were reported by late afternoon in East Jefferson County served by Puget Sound Energy north of Mount Walker.
"The winds did not strike any of our service area," said Dorothy Bracken, spokeswoman for PSE.
The MV Snohomish, the Washington State Ferries passenger ferry between Port Townsend and Keystone on Whidbey Island, was halted on and off throughout the day because of high winds that gusted up to 52 mph, Stowe said.
The Snohomish went into service Nov. 25 after the final two operating car ferries of the four-vessel, 80-year-old Steel Electric-class fleet were taken out of service Nov. 20 because of hull corrosion.
Vehicle ferry service between Port Townsend and Keystone isn't expected to return until next month at the earliest.
High winds Monday also affected the Hood Canal Bridge, which was closed several times throughout the day. It was open Monday night.
________
Reporters Valerie Gibbons, Jim Casey and Evan Cael contributed to this report.
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: December 03. 2007 9:00PM