New flood watch issued for Nooksack River as Sumas waters recede a second time

Floodwaters began receding along the Nooksack River for the second time in November, even as a new “atmospheric river” storm threatened Whatcom County and Western Washington this week.

A flood watch was in effect from Tuesday, Nov. 30, to Thursday, Dec. 2, amid forecasts for 1 to 2 inches of rain in the Whatcom County lowlands and 3 to 4 inches in the mountains.

“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” the National Weather Service said online. “Any flooding that does occur will likely be minor.”

But the forecast includes some variables — including the exact path of heaviest rain and waterlogged ground — the weather service said online Tuesday.

“In some areas, flooding will still be ongoing when the storm starts, despite river and stream levels being below flood stage by then. Flood impacts along the Nooksack and around the Everson area appear to be higher than usual, likely due to the movement of river sedimentation that has altered the stream bed. This change also adds uncertainty to the calculated river flows and therefore to the river forecasts,” the weather service said.

Current forecasts show the heaviest rainfall north of Whatcom County into British Columbia, but a slight deviation could prove disastrous for Everson and Sumas.

“Changes in an atmospheric river’s trajectory are not uncommon,” the weather service said. “Should this one slide in a little more to the south than forecast, there would be the potential for flooding on the more northerly rivers to be much higher; at least as high as (Monday’s) minor flood crest, if not higher.”

Water levels in Sumas continued to drop through Monday night in Sumas, Mayor Kyle Christensen said on the city’s Facebook page Tuesday morning.

“The Cherry Street bridge is not being bypassed with flood water anymore. That means we are done receiving that excess water flow from the Nooksack River going over in Everson,” Christensen said.

Current data from the Northwest River Forecast Center shows the Nooksack River cresting early Wednesday, Dec. 1, just below moderate flood stage.

At Ferndale, the river crest was expected around midday Wednesday, about 1 foot above moderate flood stage.

Those levels are below the river height on Nov. 13-15, when floodwaters devastated cities, towns, farms and businesses along the Nooksack River and its floodplain, dropping a month’s worth of rain in less than 72 hours and inundating communities from the South Fork Valley to the river delta at Lummi Nation.

This week’s river forecast levels are also below those seen after the second round of record rainfall on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 27-28, which caused the Nooksack River to push over its banks in Everson and the floodwaters to reach Sumas early Monday, Nov. 29.

Forecasts associated with the latest storm were good news to Christensen, who has been using Facebook to keep residents of the border town with about 1,700 residents informed about the weather, flooding, and recovery efforts.

“There is still a lot of water that needs to drain out of the affected areas. All of this rain could delay how quickly that will happen,” Christensen said.

In Everson, a community of about 2,700 according to the 2019 Census, Mayor John Perry urged residents to apply for relief funds through the Whatcom Community Foundation’s Resilience Fund.

“Please click on the link below to fill out the form to receive this money available to those in our community. There is enough to help all so please tell anyone you know affected,” Perry wrote on Facebook in English and Spanish.

More than $500,000 was raised for local flood relief, the foundation said in a statement last week.

Along with the forecast of rain for Tuesday, areas of Whatcom County can expect gusty south-southeast winds at 30-35 mph, with scattered power outages possible.

And landslides were a danger as the ground remains saturated from a month of rain that’s almost triple the normal amount for November.

Nooksack Valley schools were on a two-hour start delay Tuesday amid last weekend’s flooding.

Whatcom County’s flood debris disposal site at 3010 Halverstick Road reopened at 8 a.m. Tuesday after it was temporarily closed during the weekend storm and Monday’s second round of flooding. The site asks hazardous household waste, such as yard chemicals, car fluids and cleaners, be separated from other debris.

The city of Sumas also reported on Facebook that the U.S. Postal Service will not be delivering to street addresses in flood areas until the water recedes, advising residents in those areas to pick up mail at the Lynden Post Office for the next couple of days.

One man was killed and some 500 people were displaced after the worst flooding two weeks ago.

Gov. Jay Inslee issued a disaster declaration for Whatcom and 13 other Washington counties as local officials tally damage in hopes of triggering federal aid.

Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu also issued a disaster declaration, suspending some bureaucratic practices to allow for quicker emergency response.

Damages from the Nov. 13-15 storm have been estimated at $50 million.

On Tuesday, members of the state Department of Social and Health Services arrived in Whatcom County to help with cash assistance.

National Guard troops arrived Saturday to help with sandbagging, moving supplies and disaster response ahead of last weekend’s storm.

In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working to repair four levee breaches on the Nooksack from two weeks ago.

Reporting flood damage

All Whatcom County residents, regardless of where they live and whether they own or rent their homes, are requested to use an online form to report any flood damage they have incurred since Nov. 14, Whatcom County said in a news release Tuesday, Nov. 30.

Forms, which can be found at whatcomcounty.us/damageform must be completed by Monday, Dec. 6, the release states.

Whatcom County will be able to use the completed forms to request aid from the state and federal governments, and some aid will begin to arrive for qualifying individuals soon, the county release said.

“At this point, there is no guarantee that Whatcom County will receive any Federal aid,” the release stated. “All households who sustained damage should complete the form regardless of whether they rent or own their home, what city they live in, or whether or not they live in an unincorporated area.

“The only requirement is that the damage occurred in Whatcom County as a result of November storm flooding.”

Those who need assistance filling out the form should call the Damage Assessment Line at 360-788-5311 and leave a message, and someone will call back to fill the form out.