WASHINGTON — The levee that failed in Pacific is one of several levees across King County that the director of the Department of Natural Resources, John Taylor, says he’s concerned about.
“We had identified that segment as an area that was weak and that’s why we had crews there deployed kind of watching it very carefully. When it began to break, we had staff there who not only were alerting people immediately nearby but also notified the Emergency Operations Center,” he said.
It was a firehouse-sized spray of water that emerged in Pacific, completely submerging Pacific City park.
Around 300 large nylon bags filled with gravel are stemming the flow and have shown success, according to King County crews on scene.
The levees, which Taylor says hold up well in typical rainfall, are being stressed over the several rounds of storms, unrelenting rain, and dam releases upriver by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.
“Levees are getting saturated and there’s a lot of pressure on them. They’re getting weak and failing,” Taylor said.
Taylor says crews will patrol the levees, walking the length of them looking for any signs, like water on the outside of the levee.
When that’s seen, a spotter will be stationed near the problem area to keep an eye on the levee.
A spotter was the first to see the issue in Pacific Tuesday morning. The Desimone Levee, which failed in Tukwila on Monday, was stinted with bags, about a quarter of a mile upriver from where a repair to install seepage blankets was completed the morning before the failure happened.
Repairs in the Tukwila 205-Seagale Sinkhole, Cedar River Trail 3 Levee, and Pipeline Okimoto levees have been completed since the recent rash of weather began.
These are the exact levees King County’s Natural Resource Department is concerned about:
Green River:
- Somes Dolan (near S 228th St & Veterans Drive in Kent}
- Signature Pointe (Washington Ave & Hawley Rd, Kent, WA)
- Nursing Home Levee {Near West Valley HWY & 277th in Kent, WA)
- Narita 1 & 2 (Near Meeker St & Kent-Des Moines Rd S)
White River:
- Pacifc HESCO Barriers (in Pacific City Park that failed Tuesday)
Cedar River:
- Tabor-Crowall (Near Maplewood Golf Course, Along SR 169 near Maplewood Roadside Park)
- Byers Curve { Near Hobart, Near SR 169, Cedar Grove Rd SE & Byers RD)
- McDonald Levee (Along Cedar Grove Road)
- Dorre Don (in Dorre Don Natural Area)
- Cedar River Trail 5 (The levee trail in Ravensdale}
Based off what crews see, varying level of evacuation orders are issued near these levees, Taylor says.
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