The signs went up early Sunday on the Riverwalk that hugs the Puyallup River. After being inundated with water during Saturday's storm, the popular trail had to be closed. But by afternoon, John Hedges walked right past the debris that littered the trail. When asked if he noticed anything on his way to the trail, Hedges said, "No, there's no water that way unless it's closer to Tacoma."
Melody Gross and her son, Simon, came to walk on the trail, and they didn't see the sign either. She said she wasn't concerned about the water at all despite a large pool of water and several fallen branches just a few blocks away.
Other KIRO 7 content:
- Real-time updates: Storm moving through Western Washington
- 2 injured after shootout with undercover officers in Lowe's parking lot in Kent
- Mother, 1-year-old lose limbs trying to crawl under train
- NOAA forecasters say it could be another La Nina winter
- Police find woman, child and infant naked and unconscious in parking lot
The rain that pounded Western Washington Saturday also caused several power outages. On Mercer Island scores of Puget Sound Energy customers spent part of the night in the dark.
But the biggest concern for the Army Corps of Engineers and local officials was the rising rivers, including the Puyallup. It is running fast and high but it is also dropping precipitously.
Hedges is a longtime Puyallup resident. He credits city officials with his community emerging largely unscathed.
"They've done improvements," he said. "So it's dug out. It's more accommodating for the river than ever before, I think. So they've had a lot of heavy equipment down there digging it, I think. So they've done a better job of managing this area."
The Puyallup River is continuing to drop. It was at about 19 feet around 4 p.m. Sunday, some four feet below flood stage. Since then, it has dropped about a foot.
Some people remain in the dark. Puget Sound Energy has scattered outages in a handful of cities because of the storm. Most of the outages are in Auburn.
Cox Media Group
