Nooksack, Skagit, Elwha rivers record floods forecast (Anacortes, Ferndale: heat pump, landscaping)

[freepelican]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

FEMA has maps that show flood zones. Keep in mind they are subject to change, and likely will after there has been time to survey and review all the recent flood damage. For instance, in some areas homes flooded that weren't supposed to be in a flood area and didn't require flood insurance, others that were in the 100 year flood plain didn't flood at all.
Since Feb 2020, Whatcom County has had TWO "100 year" floods and one "500 year flood", so really all bets are off as to the future of the frequency of the floods and how FEMA is going to define flood areas in the near future.
Lots of people have had enough and are going to be selling and moving on this spring after some "time to forget" all the flooding passes.

Good points. Could you give me some of the neighbors/streets that weren't supposed to flood that did flood? Are there neighborhoods/outlying areas where flooding i far less likely? What are the worst places for flooding?

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by freepelican

Does anyone have an accurate map of the flood zones in Skagit County? I am considering the area for buying a house but now I'm quite concerned about the flooding.

The safest thing would be to buy up on a hill. Then you don't need to worry. The only issue is that the roads in (like to Sedro) flood and you can be cut off if you go too far out. You could also look at Anacortes, or Fidalgo Island or somewhere out of the valley.

Residents have been sandbagging downtown Mt. Vernon, Stanwood, Conway etc. forever. Mt. Vernon invested in the new flood wall partially due to predicted global warming making things worse. I would choose Mt. Vernon for that reason if you choose a flood plain town. The whole valley is full of dikes and these need to be maintained.

It's great you are thinking about this before buying. Good luck. With planning you should be able to find a nice place out of the flood area. And this winter is a great time to drive around and look- you will see the wet areas which you won't see in summer.

[Transmition]

Most of Mount Vernon is well above the area that floods, anywhere east of I-5 and south of College is safe due to being on a fairly high hill.

Look at an elevation map of the areas you like.

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by Transmition

Most of Mount Vernon is well above the area that floods, anywhere east of I-5 and south of College is safe due to being on a fairly high hill.

Look at an elevation map of the areas you like.

East of I5 south of College Way has some not so great places so talk to the neighbors before buying.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by freepelican

Good points. Could you give me some of the neighbors/streets that weren't supposed to flood that did flood? Are there neighborhoods/outlying areas where flooding i far less likely? What are the worst places for flooding?

There are really too many areas to even start listing them. Get up on a hill, you can use google earth to get elevations of prospective property that will be within a few feet.
Being on a hill is no guarantee, you can have slides. In one case the neighbors house above a relatives place, their curtain drain overflowed and sent a creek downhill into the side of the next house, flooding the crawl space. It simply rained so much that any low point was gushing with water.
To put it in perspective, we got more rain in November this year than Las Vegas did in the last 13 years. I think with yesterdays rain we came close to equaling 14" total rain for November 2021.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-3Q...Q5acib&index=2

This video is from a local drone photographer and he has several videos. The slide in the background on the porter creek video really scared a lot of people. Many posted that they had heard rumbling and snapping trees in the area about 1am in the morning and ran/drove for their lives fearing a repeat of the Oso landslide.

[freepelican]

I had hoped to stay fairly close to I-5 so I can get to other places quickly if needed (medical, shopping, nature daytrips) but I'm also very drawn to the nice parks/views/nature that's found in the Anacortes area.... and it's not too far to the co-op in Mount Vernon (Anacortes needs one too... maybe an outpost). How would flooding/mud slides affect this area going forward as climate change get worse. Seems like a nice place. How bad are the growler planes over Anacortes?

[rkcarguy]

Personally I like Anacortes and used to frequent the area. It's a great kickoff point for anything from boating, camping, ferry travel to the islands or BC, and not too far from I-5 to go...wherever you want. My main complaint about Anacortes is the summer tourist/ferry traffic can really plug up town and Hwy 20 clear back to the I-5 interchange sometimes.
I don't think there is enough steep grades to worry about any major slides, just watch for places on a hill with some elevation, and I'd stay away from the developments along the north shore along the bluffs which aren't on rock, which could slide down onto the beach.
Of all my time spent there, I've only had one night ruined by the military planes, we were camping and going out in the boat very early in the morning and ended up having a couple planes running some kind of pattern over us for a couple hours until about 2am. It made for a VERY short night of sleep as we launched at 5am to avoid the boat launch crowds.

[mayfair]

The growlers fly over Anacortes but they seem less common. When they do fly, they are very loud. I don't think the flight path is as regular as some others.

[freepelican]

rkcarguy and Mayfair, thank you for the tips... very good to know about the north area not on rock.... is there any particular place in the area where the growlers would be worse? I was exploring the official city FAQ and one of the questions was "How do I file a NAS Whidbey Flight Noise Complaint?" so it must be an issue to some extent. I would think it would matter if a city (gov/admins/citizens) cares about this issue to put some pressure to not have them growling over. I seriously believe something must be done about this at the federal level. Seems completely wrong to me.

[freepelican]

Also a great tip to drive around and view things in the winter to see the problem areas for flooding.