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Skykomish River floods communities
The Skykomish River saw record flooding after an atmospheric dumped heavy rain, leaving communities inundated and some trapped by the floodwaters.
MONROE, Wash. - The waters of the Skykomish River have done a lot of damage over the past two days.
On Thursday, some residents were still evacuating or trapped near Monroe and Sultan, while others were stepping in to try to help.
What they're saying:
The Skykomish River may have been receding by Thursday afternoon, but it still packed a punch throughout the day.
"It’s been total terror," said Allan Sterling, who lives in Monroe. "My father-in-law, his house is underwater, which is not a good thing."
The owner of Espresso Chalet, Mark Klein, says he took video of the North Fork of the Skykomish River as it washed out a part of Forest Service Road 63 over Jack Pass.
He also shared this image of Bridal Veil Falls on Thursday, which shows that the faucet hasn't been shut off yet.
Lauren Savage says the river also marched into her apartment complex near the Lewis Street Bridge in Monroe over the past two days, the water engulfing a neighbor's car.
"The apartments up above are fine in here, but the garages are toast," said Savage. "It’s surreal."
The waist-deep water forced neighbors to get around in kayaks. It also destroyed most of the items in her garage, though fortunately her car was spared because she parked it on a hill.
"I contacted my insurance company, and they say they don’t cover natural disasters," said Savage.
She says she and her family, including daughter Cora, are waiting it out and making the best of it.
"She’s eight. She’s enjoying hanging out and that’s my fat cat Peter," said Savage.
"We had our pumpkins floating away, our garbage cans floating away," said Shana Giancoli, the owner of the nearby Logger's Inn Tavern, which fared better than the apartment complex.
"We got two inches in the bar when there was a whole lake outside. It almost reached the sandbags. So, those apartments next door were horrible," said Giancoli.
The owner credits preparation and the sandbags for minimal damage.
"This right here kept us safe," she said.
For those who can't stay put, we talked to two men who were using a personal boat on Thursday to reach those who needed rescue.
"Everything’s underwater, you can’t tell where the river started or ended," said Justin Vandelac, a Marysville resident who stepped in to help others.
On Thursday, the two traveled to Duvall together to help a team of volunteers to pick up a woman who needed to catch a flight.
"Picked her up, all her luggage," said Jeremy McCarley, a Monroe resident. "It’s always a good feeling, they don’t feel alone that people are trying to come out and help."
"It’s even better when you can help lend a hand in tragedies like this," said Vandelac.
The bar owner says she is hoping the worst is behind them, but Thursday night was still tough as cleanup was the next challenge for those lucky enough to have the waters recede.
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The Source: Information in this story came from original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.