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Sumner prepares to deal with winter flooding

Pierce County, city of Sumner collaborate to help save area homes by distributing 20,000 sandbags over two days

By Avani Nadkarni/of The Herald

Steve Harlan knows the importance of being prepared.

His son’s home near Sumner’s Rivergrove Drive was struck by January’s major flooding and Harlan wants to make sure that the situation doesn’t repeat itself this winter.

“We got flooded up pretty bad last year,” he said. “We got out with some things but barely.”

So Harlan joined Pierce County employees, city of Sumner employees and various volunteers in braving the pouring rain and heavy winds on Nov. 5 to help create and distribute 20,000 sandbags.

It was part of a two-day event during which the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management and the city of Sumner collaborated to bring together a giant sandbagging machine and the concerned residents with river-adjacent homes. Residents like Harlan were encouraged to pick up as many as 30 sandbags, which they could use to line their homes.

“It’s just really nice to see the community coming together and thinking ahead rather than waiting for it to rain hard and (panicking),” Sumner Communications Director Carmen Palmer said of the event, which took place Nov. 5 and 7. “A lot of our residents (got) help not only getting sandbags but hauling them and getting them set up.”

Sumner Public Works employees were on hand to haul additional sandbags onto the dike near Rivergrove Drive.

“As time allows, we’re hauling some sandbags up there,” public works employee Monty Brant said. “But our first concern is getting the sandbags out to the residents who want to come pick them up.”

The event included refreshments donated by Dillanos Coffee Roasters and Top Foods and tents donated by The Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse.

“Those were all very important to keep the workers going despite the miserable weather,” Palmer said.

The event itself was made possible by a grant the Department of Emergency Management received from the Washington State Department of Labor to help areas affected by the early 2009 flooding.

“There was some concern that some of the sandbagging that was happening in the Pacific area may or may not ... push the water concerns down river a little bit more, which of course is Sumner,” said Sheri Badger, the public relations officer for the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management.

The grant also allowed the department to hire people who have been unemployed for a long period of time to help make and set out the sandbags.

“It’s a win-win for everyone,” Badger added.

Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow visited the employees and volunteers, stopping to chat with several of them. Enslow admitted to being impressed by the sandbagging machine and the way the community rallied.

“Pretty slick, huh?” he commented before adding, “This is what the city can do to help with flooding right now. Re-doing the river is going to take longer, but sandbagging, we can do.”

Harlan said he plans to do everything he can, too, to make sure his son’s home isn’t devastated again this year.

“This time, we’re trying to get more prepared,” he said. “This time, we want to be ready.”