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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
Barbara Holly's home near the Little Luckiamute River was surrounded by floodwaters even after the river crested. The ground floor of the 100-year-old structure sat in 3 inches of water Thursday.
January 24, 2012
POLK COUNTY -- "Well, at least I won't have to rake," Barbara Holly said, gesturing to a pile of leaves deposited at the edge of her driveway -- a parting gift from the overflowing Little Luckiamute River.
"I do like that."
A small reason to smile is better than none.
Three days of torrential rain and mountain snowmelt last week pushed water high above the banks of the nearby river and across Holly's 20 acre property -- more than 10 feet deep in some places.
Holly's two-story, 100-year-old home southwest of Monmouth has escaped flooding several times during her 37 years here.
She said her closest call was in 1996, when the water lapped at the bottom steps of her porch.
But "I've never seen it this high," she said a day after the swollen Little Luckiamute flowed through her frontyard and into her home, leaving 3 inches of standing water on the ground floor.
She and friends donned waders and managed to save most of the furniture and key items by taking them upstairs or standing them on stools and 5-gallon buckets.
"It will take months to rebuild this," she said. "This is painful."
Last week's sudden flooding surprised many in communities across the Willamette Valley, including those in Polk County. But when you choose to live along rivers, near creeks and in floodplains, you shoulder that risk every winter.
"It's kind of a paradise living here," said Arlie Holt, a Bridgeport resident of more than 70 years who lives just 100 feet from the banks of the Little Luckiamute River. "It's worth putting up with the possibility of high water."
But it's always stressful, he added. The Luckiamute and Little Luckiamute were some of theearliest flood concerns in the county. The Luckiamute nearly equaled its all-time high flood stage on Thursday.
Holt said the river rose over its banks and crossed his terrace, threatening to wash away his lawn furniture. But it never made it into the house.
"It was ready to come up another level, but then the sun came out," he said. "Then it was like magic, it drained down to a trickle.
"It was an unpleasant experience."
There was drama to the northeast in Independence along Ash Creek, though Raul Pena said he no longer worries about the risk of flooding.
"I'm in a floodplain ... I knew what I was getting into when I got here," said Pena, whose house sits by the creek just north of the Gun Club Road Bridge, one of the city's most flood-prone sites. "We're required to have flood insurance."
Ash Creek spilled over its banks and came within 8 feet of his home on Thursday. There was no damage, though he and family members did erect a line of sandbags as a precaution. Pena said he believed flood potential along the creek near Gun Club has worsened as "country" has transitioned to more development and apartment complexes during the past several years.
"The housing project (Colonia Amistad), that used to be wetland," Pena said. "There's all this asphalt where the water used to drain ... there's no way to do that now."
Kirk Lewis lives atop a hill near the confluence of the Luckiamute, Santiam and Willamette Rivers in southeast Polk County. He's high enough above the river elevation that even severe flooding wouldn't impact his home.
But last week's system surprised him, he admitted. On Wednesday, he would have been able to walk around the edges of his entire property. The following day, "I would have been 12 feet under water."
Rich Samsom of Rickreall, meanwhile, lives 150 feet from Mud Creek, which flows into Rickreall Creek. Samsom's been a flood victim before; the basement of his one-story home was damaged in 2007.
He's taken precautions since then, such as moving appliances and electric fixtures to higher elevations. Samsom said Mud Creek rose about a foot an hour on Jan. 18 and came within 6 feet of his home. Luckily, he was spared a repeat of a few years ago.
"You just stay prepared," Samsom said. "The other 360 days of the year here are great."
Holly echoed that sentiment, despite a flooded barn, ruined hardwood floors and the loss of her favorite leaf blower -- it got doused when water poured into a shed.
"This place is a treasure to our family," she said. "But there is a downside."
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