Many in Thurston County impacted by flood damage 'We need help'
OLYMPIA - Getting around parts of Olympia on Friday felt like a maze with some roads turning into rivers.
“It`s stressful, definitely surreal,” Olympia resident Lindsey Chapman said.
Closed roads are an inconvenience but flooded homes are people`s livelihoods.
“The stress is unimaginable I’ve been talking to the people in the B building who live on the first floor and all of a sudden their homeless,” resident Rick Fague said.
Thursday afternoon, Riverside Manor Apartments was dry for the most part as people started to evacuate over fears of major flooding from the Nisqually River.
In 24 hours everything changed.
“Look at all of this, it’s unprecedented I’ve been here 5 years,” Fague said.
As of Friday, the family who owns the apartment complex says 20 people won`t be able to live in their units immediately even after the water subsides due to flood damage.
Fague’s unit did not flood and he thinks sandbags along the property is helping to divert some of the water away from the Nisqually River.
But he is still worried about Friday night.
“This is very upsetting I don`t want to be homeless but I am this close,” Fague said.
He says many low income and disabled people live at Riverside Manor Apartments.
"We need help," Fague said.
Fague and other residents say they feel abandoned and were hoping for more local and state assistance.
“Where is the follow up where is the actual relief, where is the bodies to help,” Fague said.
“I feel alone, it`s just sit and wait to see what`s going to come,” Chapman said.
In addition to Riverside Manor Apartments, homes along Durgin Road are flooded.
Deputies also say that River Bend Campground is affected by flooding with more than 50 people impacted.