Family thankful for flood help

Published 11:43 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

The flooding earlier this month was our family’s first experience with floods in the nine years we’ve lived in Snoqualmie. Although we attempted to evacuate (only to discover that the water had come up too quickly to get our cars out), we ended up spending an anxious night in our home watching the water rise, stair by stair, up from the storage and workshop area in the “raised” area below the main living part of our house. We were lucky, however, and while we did end up with more than 3 feet of water in our house, it didn’t reach the living room or bedrooms upstairs.

By the next morning, we became even more aware of how lucky we are to be living in such a supportive and tight-knit community. Trapped in our flooded house for nearly two days, our phone rang consistantly with people checking on us and offering help. Once the water began to recede, volunteers wandered the streets of our neighborhood clearing storm drains to help remove the several feet of standing water that remained in our road.

When it came time for cleanup, we were thrilled that the city not only had an abundance of information available to the flood victims, online and via the phone, but had organized a stream of volunteers and city employees to help with everything from loading dumpsters with debris to pumping all but the last few inches of water from under our home. We even received a follow-up call from the city office to make sure we had everything we needed.

We would like to offer our sincere gratitude to the friendly and helpful city employees for their assistance during this terribly stressful time. We also offer our thanks to all of the friends and neighbors who came to our aid – and are still offering assistance – over the past few weeks. We appreciate the support and understanding as we begin to put our home and our lives back together.

Cathy and Ray Gallagher (and family)

Snoqualmie