December 2, 1998 "OUR VIEWS" editorial, The Chronicle
THE POINT: Last week's flood on Chehalis was close call, serving as reminder that little has been done to solve problem
Record rainfall has beset the Chehalis River Basin again, accompanied by the usual flooding in the Twin Cities area from the high runoff generated. The Twin Cities dodged another disaster last week when the river crested at 69.7 feet or nearly 5 feet over flood stage at the Mellen Street Bridge in Centralia Thanksgiving evening. Fortunately, damage from the flooding was relatively minor compared to the disastrous record floods on the Chehalis of January 1990 (crest higher than 73 feet) and Feb. 1996 (crest higher than 74 feet).
Still the record 24-hour rainfall of 2.68 inches for a Nov. 25 recorded at the Centralia Fire Department with more than 4 inches in a similar period upstream in the Willapa Hills, surely made thousands of folks uneasy as the river began to spill over its banks yet again.
Another half a day or less of heavy rain in the basin, after 8.11 inches in just a week at Centralia, could have meant another disaster.
And, of course, as usual, no significant preventative measures, such as the structural projects currently proposed and under study (excavation, diking and alterations to the Skookumchuck River dam) are under actual construction. After decades of talks, studies, surveys, committees, consulting firms, technical groups and advisory panels, still nothing much has been done to avert major damage from major floods. Just more of the same.
We are still about as vulnerable as ever. One would think, after two nearly catastrophic floods in the past decade, work would have at least already begun on projects to avert a recurrence, considering the cost to the community in public and private property losses, the loss to the government in insurance reimbursement costs and the adverse impact on the area's future economic well being.
What does it take to finally get some action? A disastrous flood could happen again anytime soon. Last week's close shave is a stark reminder of that.
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