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posted 10/15/09 09:47 AM | updated 10/15/09 09:49 AM
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Weekend Rain Heading Green River's Way

By Michael van Baker
Editor
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Howard Hanson Dam grout curtain installation. Photo: Mamie Brouwer, courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

UW meteorologist Cliff Mass says rains of between two to five inches should hit the mountains on Friday and Saturday, and some of that will feed into the Green River watershed. (Seattle should be soggy, too.) As we discussed earlier, there's seepage through an abutment at the Howard Hanson dam, and it gets worse the higher the water behind the dam gets.

UPDATE: Ironically, with all eyes on the Green River as the rainy season gets underway, this weekend's intense rain brought a flood warning for the Skokomish River in Mason County.

The severity of the problem became clear after a huge storm dumped over 20 inches of rain between January 6 and 9, 2009. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers describes the subsequent stress on the dam:


Howard Hanson Dam on the Green River received peak inflows of 30,500 cubic feet per second (cfs), and USACE held outflow to zero during the flood.  Without the operation of Howard Hanson Dam, floods on the Green River at the city of Auburn, Wash., would have been greater than 72 feet.  The reservoir at the dam reached a record pool level of 1,189 feet, and it held there for nearly 48 hours.

This rainy season, the USACE has announced they may have no choice but to release excess water to the river, to keep the dam functional. They consider a flood only a 25 percent chance, but if you're talking about all you own in the world being washed away, 25 percent will make your sleep uneasy after forecasts of heavy rain.

Seattlepi.com says flood planning is hectic; about 5,000 could be temporarily displaced, and the Tacoma Dome is being considered as a shelter. (Coincidentally, the Tacoma Dome is scheduled to host a fall Home & Garden show this weekend, and a holiday Food & Gift show on October 21, so there's a little synergy at work if people want to stock up early.)

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Clarification
Your headline gives the indication that there will be a storm of concern to the Green River Valley. Most definitely the rainy season has begun, but this is a typical rain fall for this time of year and is not of the magnitude that would cause concern for operations at Howard Hanson Dam.

The information from the National Weather Service provides a clearer picture for this weekend. The mountains in the Olympics will see the majority of the rain and the very northern Cascades.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/gafd/latest_webafd.html

Casondra Brewster
U.S.Army Corps of Engineers
Seattle District
Public Affairs
Comment by Casondra Brewster
5 months ago
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RE: Clarification
Only if you insert the word "storm" into a headline that doesn't contain the word. "Weekend rain" doesn't imply that to me. I know public affairs people have to look busy, but I think you're overdoing it.
Comment by Michael van Baker
5 months ago
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Sensationalism and Self Promotion
Are those the new journalistic standards?
Because that's all I see in your article, Michael.
I live in the Green River valley, and I've witnessed first-hand the Corps of Engineers working hard to get the word out since the damage was first spotted last spring.
I've also witnessed a whole lot of shoddy, alarmist, vague and misleading reporting like this, making their job a lot harder.
Maybe you should try working _with_ government agencies to spread accurate, useful information, instead of just spreading fear.
-Charles
Comment by Charles Freck
5 months ago
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RE: Sensationalism and Self Promotion
Charles, in general I try to err on the side of understatement. I don't see how anyone could say this post is sensationalistic with regard to its actual content.

1) "Weekend rain" is a very, very frequent term to used to describe rain on a weekend. (And in fact, it's raining right now.)
2) The amount that may fall is described as 2-5 inches. I say that "some" of that may make its way to the Green River, as per my linked source, a UW meteorologist.
3) I contrast that amount with the 20 inches from the major storm that actually damaged the dam.
4) Then I say "This rainy season"--NOT this weekend--there may be flooding, which I don't think there's any argument about, and refer to other news links.

If you're reading more into what I wrote than is there, I can't help you. But I do encourage you to read more carefully.
Comment by Michael van Baker
5 months ago
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RE: RE: Sensationalism and Self Promotion
Michael,
This weekend brings a common rainfall, well within the current capability of the dam, and you raise the spectre of "... all you own in the world being washed away," and then claim your are being understated? Really?
Well, the good news is that I can tell by the volume of other comments that apparently nobody reads your work except for me and the poor woman at the Corps, who has no choice.
Here she is, slogging through hackjob after hackjob, trying to infuse some accurate information into the mix, and you slander and abuse her.
Did you even notice that her single paragraph contained more useful, factual data than your whole article? You insinuate a great deal, but add no real value.
I can see why your readership is so low. You just lost me, too.
Comment by Charles Freck
5 months ago
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Ouch
Damn...talk about flame war.
Comment by Aaron
5 months ago
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It's good and it's true.
As usual, COE is wrong and the rain is pounding Seattle this weekend.

As for under/overstatement, I think Michael understates the severity of Charles' lack of knowledge of the situation. Anyone who works for a business in the area being referred to as "Lake Renton" realizes the true severity of the situation - as i do - given the amount of planning people in the area must do to avoid a local Katrina-esque unpreparedness. I would say there is absolutely no overstatement to the article. People have to be prepared for this or it could be a disaster for many people and businesses. I work with many people in the flood plain who still know hardly anything about the situation. Articles like this will fix that by providing reasonable concern to locals.
Comment by Cindy123
5 months ago
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RE: It's good and it's true.
I never disputed the fact that there is a significant risk of flooding for our area, Cindy. My beef with this article is that it ads nothing of value, and frankly relies on (as I said) cheap sensationalism, trying to link a rainy weekend with "all you own in the world being washed away."
It's only the fact that Howard Hanson has done such a good job controlling flow on the Green that people have forgotten (or never been told) that they live in a flood plain.
It's great that you're so well informed. You can thank the Corps of Engineers for that; especially the 'public affairs people' that Michael is so quick to slander.
Charles
Comment by Charles Freck
5 months ago
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PS
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/64667397.html
Comment by Cindy123
5 months ago
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Ensure you have flood coverage
Flooding is not covered by standard property insurance. Contact your insurance agent for flood insurance information. Property owners can insure buildings and contents, and renters can insure their possessions. Elevation certificates may be on file at your local County Department of Water Resources.

Remember, you do not have to live in a floodplain to qualify for flood insurance. According to FEMA, 30 percent of water damage flood claims are not located within a SFHA.
Comment by Dan
4 days ago
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