When water started pouring into Jeff Mataya's house in Hoquiam during Sunday and Monday's massive rainstorm, he got creative. Mataya raised his refrigerator as high as possible to keep it out of the water and stacked belongings to keep them dry. But he couldn't hold back the water for long, and at the height of the storm, Mataya had a foot of water in his house.
"I never thought it would get up that high," said Mataya. "It always floods a little bit, but never this much."
The historic rainstorm caused landslides that destroyed four homes and left hundreds of people in Hoquiam's Beacon Hill neighborhood stranded when mud, rocks and fallen trees blocked the only road in and out of the area.
"We're just waiting to hear word on the access road," said Esther Wenman, who's waiting it out with her husband Randy.
"It's just a major inconvenience for us, but for those people down below us it's life changing. My heart just goes out to them," said Wenman.
Cynthia Schmidt's home was destroyed by the slide. She said the experience has left her traumatized and frightened.
"Every little so und I hear now, if somebody starts up the pickup and I hear it I think the hill is coming down. It scared me so bad." Said Schmidt.
Floodwater still surrounded James McKay's home on Tuesday.
"Everything inside our house is ruined," said McKay. "It was a massive flood."
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