Print E-Mail AIM

Flood wall gets funding, residents say it’s not enough

Avani Nadkarni

A heavy rain fell over Sumner last week and Rainier Manor resident Pat Tea felt the familiar sting of nerves.

Even the seemingly positive news of the approval of a nearly $200,000 grant toward a flood wall that would barricade Rainier Manor from the Puyallup River didn’t ease many of her fears because her street was gushing with rainwater already.

Although Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy recently approved $196,058 of a Community Development Block Grant to be given to the city of Sumner for the building of a portion of the flood wall, Tea said it’s an all-or-nothing situation.

“You can’t build a section of wall, you have to build the whole wall or no wall,” Tea said of the money, which is less than 5 percent of the estimated $4 million the wall will cost. “If we don’t use (the money), we lose it ...(so) we’re right back where we were before.”

Tea said she would gladly sell the home she shares with husband Robert, the Rainier Manor Homeowner’s Association president, but no one wants to buy a home in the often-flooded area. She is quickly losing hope of a solution.

“We’ve been talking about dredging since 1996 and nothing’s happened,” she said. “We’re not getting much funding for the flood wall. We’re between a rock and a hard place.”

To Rainier Manor residents, it seems like it now takes less and less for the area to flood. During a major flooding 13 years ago, Tea said, it took a combination of frozen ground, melting mountain snow and 11 inches of rain in a short time to flood the property.

“Now, all it takes is rain,” Tea said. “We used to not worry about rain, but now the river bottom gets higher with every flood. There’s less capacity on the banks to hold the river.”

Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow and most of the council agrees.

“The fact is, some of that stuff needs to be taken out of the river bottom,” Enslow said while expressing his support for river dredging at a recent council meeting.

There may be a glimmer of hope for Tea and her fellow residents. In the state’s capital budget, Washington legislators set aside $15 million to distribute for flood issues throughout the state and applications will be taken in the fall. Sumner, for one, will be turning in an application.

“We’re hoping for better results ahead,” Enslow said.

Reach Reporter Avani Nadkarni at 253-841-2481 ext. 314 or by e-mail at avani.nadkarni@puyallupherald.com.