As skies clear and river recedes, Whatcom efforts turn to flood recovery

Whatcom County residents and government agencies are turning toward recovery after torrential November rains caused two rounds of devastating floods along the Nooksack River.

A Recovery Task Force, including mayors of small cities and representatives of business and human-services agencies, will begin work Friday, Dec. 3, according to the Whatcom County Public Works Department website.

Skies cleared Thursday morning, Dec. 2, after a three-week barrage of “atmospheric river” storms triggered widespread flooding Nov. 13-15 and inundated Everson, Nooksack and Sumas for a second time Nov. 27-28.

“We are thankful,” said Sumas Mayor Kyle Christensen.

“It’s pretty dry around town. We’re able to let people back to their houses and start cleaning up the secondary damage,” Christensen told The Bellingham Herald.

All flood watches and warnings were canceled and the threat of landslides was easing, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.

Forecasts call for partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures through Friday night, Dec. 3. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 10- to 14-day weather outlook calls for below-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation.

That means snow in the mountains and possibly a rain-snow mix this weekend on hills surrounding Bellingham.

“Any places that do manage to clear out by (Thursday) night will likely see some morning fog come Friday,” meteorologist Mary Butwin said in the online forecast discussion. “The next weather system is expected to move through Saturday. This will be a cooler system from what we have been seeing recently. As a result, the mountains will likely see snow,” Butwin said.

Bellingham saw its wettest November on record, with 14.57 inches — a mark that’s nearly triple the normal monthly rainfall of 5.2 inches.

It’s also been the wettest meteorological autumn for Bellingham, with 23.55 inches from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, against a normal 11.05 inches, according to NOAA data.

Homes damaged

In hard-hit Sumas, a total of 316 homes suffered at least some flood damage, Christensen said.

Damage had been reported to more than 700 homes across Whatcom County through Wednesday, Dec. 1, said Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for the county’s Emergency Operations Center.

“We can’t be sure of the total number of displaced individuals, as some are staying with family or friends and have not requested assistance,” Cloud told The Herald in an email.

Some 40 people were still in emergency shelters Wednesday, the county Public Works Department reported at its website, down from 48 people on Tuesday.

Cloud told The Herald that many homes were uninhabitable.

Mark Personius, director of the county Planning and Development Department, said no homes were “red-tagged” officially.

“However, we have red-tagged some recreational structures in the East County that are threatened by bank erosion along the north fork (of the Nooksack) but none of those structures are inhabited on a permanent basis,” Personius told The Herald.

Debris collection

With a new focus on recovery, aid will shift to repairs, debris collection, transitional housing and funding, the Public Works website said.

“Residents and businesses that experienced flood damage and are unable to pull out the damaged materials for disposal may phone 360-788-5303 for assistance,” the Public Works website said. “All flood-damaged debris left in the public right-of-way will be disposed of, although those with flood damages should take their debris to 3010 Halverstick Road. A second debris site is being set up; details will be released soon.”

Donations for flood relief are being collected by the Whatcom Community Foundation’s special Resilience Fund.

Those who need help or want to volunteer for clean-up work can contact Samaritan’s Purse at 360-305-2175 at least 24 hours in advance.

Meanwhile, Christensen said officials in Sumas and elsewhere have anecdotal reports of possible burglaries and theft from flood-damaged homes.

“What we’re hearing is that there are people kind of casing things out,” he said.

Suspicious activity can be reported to 911.