Gov. Bob Ferguson met Whatcom County leaders on Wednesday, Dec. 17, and toured parts of Sumas, Everson and Nooksack, devastated by recent flooding.
“It’s pretty sobering to see the impacts in that community,” he said, noting other areas in the state, such as Yakima, Lewis County and Stehekin, have also been severely impacted by the recent weather.
Ferguson was continuing a damage assessment tour of western Washington before speaking in a news conference at the Whatcom Emergency Operations Center.
The visit comes a week after historic flooding began to pummel the region as far north as Sumas to areas south of Seattle. While Mount Vernon and Burlington were largely spared from severe flooding when the Skagit River reached a record-breaking peak, Sumas and Everson were not as lucky.
The Nooksack River hit a record peak of 150.49 feet on Thursday, Dec. 11, not only damaging homes and businesses but also three levees along the river: the Mount Baker Rim levee near Glacier, the Twin View Levee near Everson and the Hovander Park levee in Ferndale.
Work crews move through a mostly evacuated downtown Sumas on Dec. 12. Cleanup efforts are now underway across the region. (Santiago Ochoa/Cascadia Daily News)
Nearly 700 families from across the county reached out to the Whatcom Long Term Recovery Group as of Wednesday. The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office also received more than 200 damage assessment forms.
The City of Everson estimates flood waters did between $2 and $3 million of damage to all of the city’s property.
Ferguson’s visit gave echoes of when his predecessor Jay Inslee visited Ferndale in 2021 to assess the damage from the flood at the time. During the visit, Inslee promised to seek federal disaster relief funding.
Four years later, Ferguson is making a similar request but in an entirely different political environment.
While the federal government granted an emergency disaster declaration, allowing the state to unlock short-term, on-the-ground federal help, Ferguson and his team, along with local governments across the impacted areas, will have to put together an accounting of how much damage there has been.
He’s been in communication with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the situation Washingtonians are facing.
“We’ll be relying on many voices to communicate exactly what the need is,” he said. “I’m positive we’ll make a compelling case, and I’m ready to get on a plane, fly back to D.C., talk to whoever I’ve got to talk to.”
In the meantime, Ferguson announced Tuesday, Dec. 16 he would make $3.5 million available to Washingtonians suffering from flooding to access housing, groceries and other short-term needs.
Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu expresses thanks to the organizations involved in cleanup and recovery efforts during the flooding in Whatcom County. (Santiago Ochoa/Cascadia Daily News)
He’s hopeful that in the upcoming budget session, lawmakers will approve his infrastructure ask. The infrastructure could make a difference for Sumas and Everson, which have little in the way of flood mitigation.
He pointed to the flood wall in Mount Vernon that likely saved the town.
“They were all clear this could only happen because of that investment,” he said. “In communities I visited today, we need more infrastructure. There’s a cost to that, and there’s lots of communities that need that all across the state.”
Ferguson also noted he’s been in communication with British Columbia Premier David Eby about ways the state and the province could coordinate on flood mitigation in the future.
“We all agree we got to get through some things that are right in front of us right now, but we agreed, there’s a border, but rivers go where rivers go,” he said. “Floods go where floods go. They’re not paying attention to a line on the map.”
Ferguson, along with the other elected leaders present at Wednesday’s news conference, praised the work of the businesses, nonprofits and community members who stepped up in recent days to help flood survivors.
“This has been a testament to Whatcom County like I haven’t seen in a long time: it’s beautiful,” Democrat State Rep. Alicia Rule said.
Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu thanked BP and Phillips 66 for providing PPE and equipment for volunteers and the nonprofits coordinating efforts.
“The government cannot easily write a check to the individual,” he said, noting nonprofits make it easier for people to access funds and heaters. “I think those are the things that are very heartening to see, that community coming together.”
Along with Rule and Sidhu, Rep. Joe Timmons, Nooksack tribal leadership and members of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and Division of Emergency Management also joined the governor.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at [email protected]; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
