Nooksack Valley cleaning up after flood

The Nooksack River is receding now, exposing the damage done to several Whatcom County communities.

At least 100 homes were flooded. Forty people had to be rescued.

There is still water all over the Nooksack Valley. But those who live here say it is nothing like they experienced over the weekend.

Jenniffer Cunningham stood, recording what she was seeing outside her window. A search and rescue crew was trying to save a man being swept away in the rushing water.

"Two gentlemen were walking down the road," she said, "and one swept away into the blueberries right there and was holding onto the pole."

She said there was just that much water. "Yeah and that wasn't even at the highest point," she said. "It got higher than that."

Cunningham says it was only on the second try that rescuers were able to finally get him the boat.

Looking at her backyard Monday, it is hard to imagine just a couple of days ago her backyard looked like a river.

"It is the river," she said. "It was literally the river."

The Nooksack River, overwhelmed by a deluge of rain, overflowed its banks and spilled out all over this valley, home to 80,000 residents.

Drone video shows Sumas, some nine miles north, was essentially underwater. It was cut off for a time from the rest of the country.

"The whole of Cherry Street was covered in water," said Deb McLeod of Sumas. "It was impossible to pass."

"We were a little bit nervous about the flooding," said Nicole Postma of Sumas. "We just keep watching we weren't able to get into the shop."

"Oh, yeah, it's disgusting," said Jenniffer Cunningham as she opened the door to her refrigerator.

The water at her Everson house was so high, it took her refrigerators on a soggy ride and left a big mess in its wake.

"That's all river silt," she said, pointing to what was inside, "and muck from the river. There's grass in it. Everyone wants grass in their freezer, right."

What a mess, she has left to clean up. And that is so for a lot of people. But everyone here is worried another storm is headed our way.

Jenniffer Cunningham says if she is flooded again, she’ll just cry.

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