SUMAS, Wash. — The community is coming together after flooding devastated the city of Sumas last week.
Deep water covered the entire city, blocking off every access road into town. Homes were submerged under feet of water, leaving behind mud, damage, and a long road to recovery. Now, cleanup efforts are in full swing, with neighbors and businesses doing what they can to help.
Among those affected are David and Jen Schild, whose home was filled with floodwater.
“Our neighbors were awesome in helping us out,” David Schild said. “We had someone from Ohio come out today.”
As the water receded, help began pouring in — including from chef Knut Christiansen, owner of Paellaworks in Bellingham.
“People are collaborating as a community to get things done,” Christiansen said.
Christiansen, who says cooking is both his passion and his calling, stepped in to make sure families have warm meals while focusing on repairing flood damage. The nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, is sponsoring the meals.
“I do it because I love it, and it’s a passion,” he said. “It’s a special gift to be able to come here and help people that are in my community — that I’m around every day. I live right across those mountains.”
Wednesday night, Christiansen and his team cooked paella outside Valley Church in Nooksack, preparing enough food to feed 400 families.
“If you need a meal, you need a meal,” he said. The team plans to return Thursday and Friday to continue serving food.
For Christiansen, the effort is personal. In 2021, he was a flood victim himself when water surged into Bellingham. At the time, he wanted to help but ran into red tape.
“Nobody had answers, and I was frustrated,” he said.
That experience led him to World Central Kitchen, where he learned how disaster response works. Since then, he has helped communities impacted by disasters in Poland and California.
Now, it’s his own community that has been hit hard.
“This is my home,” Christiansen said. “The fact that I have the ability to bring this to people is super satisfying.”
Back in Sumas, the Schild’s continue facing long days of cleanup. They stopped by for a hot meal — a small comfort during a difficult time.
“Smells pretty good,” Schild said. “Just the outpouring of love throughout this whole thing has been incredible.”
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