SEQUIM — For the second time this December, Sequim’s Sound Community Bank, 645 W. Washington St., experienced flooding.
Bank officials closed the bank at 645 W. Washington St., on Friday morning after staff discovered that flood water had flowed into the building’s electrical system. The building was flooded on Dec. 7 as well.
Shelli Robb-Kahler, hub manager/vice-president, said staff discovered the latest flooding at 7:45 a.m. Friday morning and while it was not as extensive as on Dec. 7, there was more water damage to the electrical system, prompting the closure.
CEO Laurie Stewart said they can’t operate without power in the bank.
“It’s a busy, busy branch with a lot of clients,” she said. “We’re very appreciative of our clients. We’re sparing no resource to try and get this open. We feel terrible about it.”
Five Sequim staffers worked in the Port Angeles branch on Friday, and others took vacation days, Robb-Kahler said. The bank closed Friday and Saturday and was scheduled to close for Christmas.
Brady Robb, the bank’s marketing director, said bank users can check for updates on the website at www.soundcb.com.
Phone calls to the branch were being diverted from Sequim at 360-683-2818 to Port Angeles at 360-452-4624 during the closure.
Sound Community Bank’s Creekside Branch, set tentatively to open in January near Sequim QFC offers an ATM, and Port Angeles’ branch offers full service for customers, too.
Sound Community Bank also partners with All Point Network ATMs for no surcharge to withdraw money from ATMs in Sequim QFC, Sequim Safeway and Sequim Walgreens, Robb said.
Staff said customer records and safe deposit boxes are unaffected by the closure.
Stewart said Sequim’s branch is the largest in Sound Community Bank’s network with just under 5,000 households with many holding multiple accounts.
Despite more extensive flooding on Dec. 7, the bank never closed, staff said.
“We were running a full service branch through drive-up,” Robb-Kahler said.
“Bless Shelli and staff for running out to the curb doing all kinds of transactions,” Stewart said.
However, with electrical systems affected this time, the bank’s entire property is dark including its ATM.
“We’re looking at a longer space of time (to dry the building out),” Robb-Kahler said.
Bank officials said the 1980s electrical system is antiquated and parts for it aren’t readily available.
Stewart said the basement has always had issues with water with a sump pump installed to counter them.
“But we’ve never had anything to this degree,” Stewart said.
“We now believe there may be a more major cause of failure of a drainage pipe,”
Sound Community Bank is working with America’s Elite, Clallam Public Utility District and the City of Sequim on the issues.
For more on Sound Community Bank, visit www.soundcb.com.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
The front doors of Sequim’s Sound Community Bank let customers know they were closed with no power after a second flooding incident.
