'Muddy mess': Pierce County, WA RV park residents continue flood clean-up

ORTING, Wash. - Residents at an RV park in Pierce County spent the day trying to salvage what they could after floodwaters swamped most of the trailers there last week.

Many folks lost nearly everything, and they say because people in the park have modest incomes, recovery in this economy will be tough.

The muddy mess is shown in the picture below Sunday. The Puyallup River sits just beyond the RV parking area.

"I got a call from the neighbors, the water is rising, they are trying to get my trailer out," said Brad Davenport.

Davenport lives in the Dan and Bill RV park near Puyallup. He was at work when knee-deep flooding ultimately swamped his trailer off 116th Street East. His friends, who called him, couldn't get the trailer out in time.

The mud could still be seen in the trailer on Sunday when FOX 13 crews visited the park. 

He estimates more than 70 other RVs and more than 100 residents were impacted physically and emotionally. 

"To me, it’s pretty darn devastating, even going in, because I lost my wife," he said. "Yesterday I found one of the last Valentine's gifts I gave her."

About a dozen residents were able to pull their trailers and some cars to higher ground just in time.

Jason Johnson's family of five, including his young son, were part of that lucky group.

"A lot of us just don’t have vehicles to tow our campers out of here, so for us to leave now makes it really hard," said Jason.

Though his trailer was moved to higher ground on the property, his family lost most of their clothing in an exterior cabinet and all their food in an outside freezer. He says because he's an hourly worker, he has limited time that he can take off to deal with the flooding, and it will be hard to replace what was lost.

"I only had about three days to be able to take off, paid," said Jason.

Governor Bob Ferguson visited the Orting area Sunday morning. Representative Kim Schrier (WA-Dist. 8) was also touring hard-hit areas in Pierce County and Snohomish County, and credited first responders with saving lives.

"The waters came up so rapidly, and they dropped so rapidly, so many buildings and structures are still damaged, but you wouldn’t know it from the outside," Rep. Kim Schrier said.

She believes the Levee Setback Project prevented flooding from doing even more damage in Orting.

AJ Madeiros says he was given a free propane tank to heat his muddy and soggy RV.

"Some people were on dry land and got safe," said AJ Madeiros. His trailer also flooded at the park. "Not very many."

AJ says he's thankful his cat survived the flood and he took shelter on a nearby hill to get away from the floodwaters.

Meanwhile, Brad Davenport says he's keeping a stuffed teddy bear safe until he's able to wash it. It was a Valentine's Day gift to his late wife, which he was able to salvage from the destruction in his trailer.

"I proposed on Valentine's Day and that’s when she finally said yes," said Brad.

It's a memory he'll hang onto as he tries to recover.

"This one will wash, and I’m sure other people lost stuff too," said Brad.

Rep. Schrier says she visited with regional FEMA officials Saturday, and they are getting ready to assist with the next round of rescues. More rain is in the forecast and there are concerns about the threat of additional flooding.

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