Here in Western Washington we live with something called hills. People also call them mountains. Cougar Mountain, Tiger Mountain, and Rattlesnake Mountain are examples of names we use to scare people.
We also have Grass, Huckleberry, and Blue Mountains in case you don’t like scary ones.
A benefit of mountainous areas is that people can store water behind dams for later use. We have hundreds of dams in the state. We have the Grand Coulee Dam.
“What’s a coulee and what’s so grand about it?” Well way back in pre-history the whole eastern part of the state was flooded with lava that cooled into basalt. That’s a kind of rock. Then during the last Ice Age Glacial Lake Missoula was formed because of a huge ice dam. Nature also builds dams.
When the ice broke or floated up the old Lake Missoula came pouring out all over the old basalt. It was in all the papers. Science people think this may have happened many times. One result was the basalt was scoured out in several channels and we call these channels “coulees.” The Grand Coulee is the biggest of these.
On our side of the mountains it rains a lot. We call it “normal” and we learn to live with it. However a lot of folks in the Green River Valley got tired of the river flooding their pastures and the Corps of Engineers decided to build a dam to help moderate the flow.
They named the dam after a Seattle attorney and state legislator. He died in 1957 after campaigning long and hard for the dam project. It changed the valley from periodically flooded farmland to a sea of warehouses, industrial plants, condominiums, and shopping centers.
Last January we had some unusually heavy rains in the west slopes of the Cascades and that resulted in some torrents of water and debris in many places. One result was the Howard Hanson Dam sustained damage. It reminded old timers of the Lake Missoula Floods. Very old timers. Not too many remember the Ice Age any more.
So far we’re not sure where this is going. Hang on, there’s more.
Earlier this fall the folks over at the dam site decided they were worried that heavy rains this winter might breach the dam. This would allow flooding once again in the Green River Valley. They decided it would be a good idea to warn people who live, work, and own property to get flood insurance.
Part of the flooding could also cause interruptions to water supplies, electricity, and access to Wal-Mart. That last item raised a panic. Insurance companies nearly had a land rush as people lined up to buy insurance. But wait! Can you legally buy insurance a week before and inevitable event? How does that work? Well, for one thing they might have fine print that says “Does not cover flooding resulting from failure of a man made structure; for example, the Howard Hanson Dam.”
Mayors of the many towns in the valley along with most of the owners of properties began to evaluate what the flood might do. We have a correction facility (jail) in Kent that would have to be evacuated. The prisoners would have to fill sand bags 24 hours a day. Many car dealers are located in the valley. Their lots are full of traded in clunkers. The list is way too long for my little report. The point is the hue and cry reached deafening proportions. (You can quote that)
Finally the BBMFIC of the Corps of Engineers came out and said allowing the dam to fail and flood the valley is not an option. But here are some of the things being said on local news programs:
"The best advice for those who live in the green river valley:
Get flood insurance now. Make an emergency plan for your family. Put together an emergency kit and get a radio and fresh batteries."
OK, we know how the insurance thing will (won’t) work. What’s an emergency plan? “Drive to California” might work. What about duct tape? How do you tell if batteries are fresh? Do they smell ripe? What’s a radio? We need answers, man!
The key element here is that the cities and big businesses are making a lot of noise and the people who live and work in the area are worried by all the reporting.
Contractors and water damage cleanup companies are lining up. Everyone is in frenzy. Some cities are telling citizens that if they have a flood alert they should follow the volcano evacuation routes.
Obviously we might hear more about this in the coming weeks. The Corps is saying that they will have the dam ready for anything by November 1. I’m not saying there won’t be flooding because I have no way of knowing the future. What I’m saying is that they need to handle the alerts better. Telling people to buy flood insurance is pretty much the same thing as saying it’s going to flood. Scary stuff. Poor old Howard Hanson would be very annoyed.
I just hope we don’t have a flood. It would be an amazing amount of damage due to all the development since the dam was built.
Al
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