Snoqualmie River briefly at phase 2 flooding alert

KING COUNTY, Wash. — Some neighborhoods are dealing with flooding concerns with more rain on the way.

The King County Flood Warning Center opened just after midnight as the Snoqualmie River reached a phase 2 alert level.

The Snoqualmie receded pretty quickly. In fact, the warning center closed after about three hours.

But it was enough to close a couple of roads in Fall City and Carnation.

And the impacts didn’t stop there.

This was the effect of all that rain on Snoqualmie Falls, a spectacular sight drawing hardy visitors willing to brave the additional showers and enveloping mist to get a look.

“There’s been so much rain, and the flood watch happening lately, and we wanted to see what it was like,” said Heidi Stender of Seattle.

“Oh, we like the rain here,” said her husband, Scott. “Oh, absolutely. We like to see it year-round.”

But their 8-year-old daughter, Helen, was not particularly impressed.

“Well, I personally think it’s a little loud,” she said.

The way the higher-than-normal Snoqualmie River was running might be more to her liking.

The Bamer family was drawn to the overlook at Fall City Park.

Scott Bamer said the river appeared to be pretty high.

“Yeah,” he said. “We’ve seen it higher, though. This has all been underwater previously. It’s all relative.”

The experts say we have been spared the worst of the five-month flood season so far. But there are nearly three more months to go.

“So it’s important that everyone start to prepare for potential flooding impacts in frequently flooded areas,” said Doug Williams, spokesman for the King County Flood Warning Center. “Including signing up for flood insurance, if you live in a frequently flood-prone area.”

Williams suggests doing that now. It takes a month for flood insurance to kick in. So don’t wait until it floods and closed-road signs go up to sign up.

Cox Media Group