Nisqually Delta told to evacuate Thursday as Tacoma Power again increases dam flow

Thurston County Emergency Management urged people near the Nisqually Delta to evacuate Thursday afternoon after Tacoma Power again increased its release of water from the LaGrande Dam upstream.

Residents east of Durgin Road Southeast, Kuhlman Road Southeast, and Nisqually Cut Off Road Southeast were urged to evacuate and residents of Nisqually Pines were encouraged to watch the river and prepare to evacuate on short notice.

Tacoma Power announced it planned to increase water flow to 17,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) by 1 p.m. Thursday through Friday, according to an alert from Thurston County Emergency Management. Peak river height was expected in the delta by 4 p.m. Thursday.

Some structural flooding was visible by mid day, and roads were closed.

Jeff Choke, Emergency Management Director for the Nisqually Tribe, told The Olympian around 9:50 a.m. Thursday that the river was breaching its bank on the east side of the Old Pacific Highway bridge.

Wa He Lute Indian School planned to release students at 11 a.m., Choke said. Other schools were impacted as well: Yelm Community Schools released students an hour early and canceled afternoon preschool, and North Thurston Public Schools announced its buses would not be transporting students to the flooded area Thursday afternoon.

Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies began knocking on doors mid-day to advise residents they should evacuate, according to Lt. Ray Brady.

Deputies were telling residents it was a “level three evacuation notice,” Brady said, which means it’s recommended people leave, but they’re not being forced. A caveat: If a person chooses to stay and there’s a flood, rescue could be difficult.

Thurston County Emergency Management worked with the American Red Cross to set up a shelter for those who have evacuated. The shelter is located at the Gwinwood Camp and Conference Center in Lacey at 6015 30th Ave. SE, according to county spokesperson Bryan Dominique.

The shelter was slated to open at 4 p.m. Thursday and stay open for the duration of the event, Dominique said. It’s ADA accessible and pet friendly — although pets should be crated and owners need to be prepared to feed and take care of them.

Lt. Brady also said the county was delivering sand bags to Nisqually Cut Off Road, Sixth Avenue Southeast, and Riverside Manor Apartments. In fact, Riverside Drive Southeast and Sixth Avenue were closed Thursday due to water over the roadway, according to a Thurston County news release.

Kaye Ginter, who’s 64 and said she’s lived at the end of Sixth Avenue for almost nine years, told The Olympian she was planning to vacate her home adjacent to the rising river — though she wasn’t sure where she’d go.

“People need to stay away, because the river’s rising,” Ginter said.

At Riverside Manor Apartments, off Old Pacific Highway near the bridge that crosses the river, water had filled parking lots and was approaching the 40-unit, three-building complex by mid-day.

Temporary Apartment Manager Craig Amado was telling the apartments’ 80 occupants to evacuate, he told The Olympian.

Joshua Richards, who’s 32 and said he’s lived at complex for two years, lives in a unit in the building closest to the river. Around 1 p.m., he told The Olympian he was leaving, along with his newborn son, his wife, three daughters, a brother-in-law, and a sister-in-law. He, too, didn’t yet know where he would go.

A gauge on the Nisqually at McKenna shows the river was at 10.19 feet at 10 a.m. and was expected to reach over 11-1/2 feet Thursday and stay there through Friday and into Saturday. Minor flooding on the Nisqually begins at 10 feet.

However, the McKenna Bridge in Yelm is still open and there is no plan to close the bridge at this time, the county said.

But flooding was affecting much of Western Washington. Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib issued a weather-related emergency proclamation for 19 counties. A flood watch for over a dozen counties — including Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pierce, and Thurston — is still in place.

Habib issued the proclamation Wednesday as acting governor because Gov. Jay Inslee was outside the state, according to the proclamation. A state of emergency now exists under the proclamation in Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, and Whatcom counties.

Damage to roadways is estimated at more than $3 million, it reads, and the storms since late January have caused “injuries, significant power outages, evacuations, road damage,” and other problems.

The most recent in a series of “very wet,” fairly warm storms that have come off the Pacific Ocean is focused in the Snohomish County area southward, Courtney Obergfell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS), told The Olympian.

The rain is expected to be at its heaviest Thursday and taper off Friday morning before a weaker, colder system moves in, according to Obergfell. Heavy precipitation in the central and southern Cascades, a warning from NWS reads, will “drive multiple rivers above flood stage.”

The rivers included in the warnings include:

• Puyallup River at Puyallup;
  
  
• Nisqually River near National;
• Nisqually River at McKenna; and
• Cowlitz River at Randle.

A separate warning issued specifically for the Nisqually River at McKenna is in place through Saturday afternoon. The river was expected to crest near 10.4 feet about 10 p.m. Friday, according to NWS, before falling below flood stage Saturday morning.

Thurston County Emergency Management also forecasts that the Skookumchuck River near Bucoda will reach flood stage Friday.

Resources

• River forecasts for Thurston County can be found at https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/em/Pages/rivers-graphs.aspx
• Road closures in the county are at https://www.co.thurston.wa.us/publicworks/travelImpacts.html
• Road closures for state roads are at https://www.wsdot.com/traffic/trafficalerts/
• Sand and sandbag information, including locations in Thurston County where they can be acquired is at https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/em/Pages/ei.aspx
• For additional help sandbagging and for information regarding the county’s emergency response, contact Emergency Management at 360-867-2800.

This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Nisqually Delta told to evacuate Thursday as Tacoma Power again increases dam flow."