The severity of flooding in Forks can be measured by the height of the rising waters at Ron Shearer’s home.
Shearer has lived in his home north of Forks on the Sol Duc River for about 34 years, he said.
A few years ago – three or four, he said – the water flooded his home, covering the floor with muddy waters.
“This time it didn’t flood,” he said, referring to Monday’s wind and rain storm.
But it was close.
Shearer indicated the flood line on the house, which reached barely more than two inches below the door where water would have begun to flow in.
“We can always tell how bad the flooding is by where it hits on the Shearer home,” Mayor Nedra Reed said.
The preliminary estimate of damage from Monday’s storm countywide is from $600,000 to $750,000, said Bob Martin, manager of Clallam County Emergency Management, on Thursday.
“I know that’s going to change,” he said, emphasizing that Thursday’s estimates are “very rough, preliminary figures and subject to revision.”
That total amount includes some $150,000 in damage estimated to private residences and businesses, Martin said, adding that he has heard from about 15 to 20 residences and businesses that suffered damage, and that few had damage estimates completed.
The estimate does not include damage to state highways or national parks, he said.
Jefferson County’s estimate of damage to county infrastructure is nearly $2 million.
Shearer offered no estimate of the damage done to his home in Monday’s storm or in past storms or floods.
