2020 February Flooding Spotlight

Walla Walla Road / South fork Walla Walla Road received heavy damages along several miles. Homeowners were stranded and/or couldn’t get back to their homes for seven to ten days.  

Mill creek road was heavily damaged cutting of local residents for seven to ten days until crews could get into to perform emergency temporary repairs. The city of Walla Walla WA also pulls water in from a source at the end of the road. This is the primary source of drinking water for the City. Their pumping station and their 30 inch pipeline was damaged and exposed during the flooding event. Utilities crews worked in coordination with Umatilla County to make the necessary road repairs so they could access and make temporary repairs to their infrastructure.

The bridge into Harris Park needs to be completely rebuilt to gain access to the park. The Park also received heavy damages and crews will need to gain access to start debris removal and repairs. There are 25 RV sites and 3 cabins at the Park. The park will likely not re-open this year which means lost revenue that would help cover 40% of the maintenance costs.

Thorn Hollow Bridge buckled and was compromised during the flooding cutting off family members, farmers, and rerouting emergency crews up to 16 miles. The design and regulatory approvals will take two to three years before construction can be started further delaying the opening of this route.  

Umatilla Electric suffered extensive damage that included loss of poles and underground conduits holding electrical writing systems that were washed out due to fast flowing streams and creeks. The Umatilla electric Co-op preliminary estimate reviewed by the FEMA and state team showed 172 poles damaged or lost, damage to conductors, transforms, and washout underground electrical wiring systems. The damage resulted in the loss of power to 146 residents, which is over half of Co-ops service area. Due to accessibility to make permanent repairs the utility restored power temporarily by rerouting powerlines, cutting lines and isolating dangerous systems that are not accessible due to damaged roads and washed out bridges.  Twenty three (23) residence remain without power, with 3 residences that power cannot be restored due to the destruction of these homes. The Co-op estimated that over 42 miles of electrical lines were damaged during the event. 

Hermiston Irrigation District – Scour and erosion from the Umatilla River floods have greatly compromised the irrigation canal in several spots. There is ¼ mile run where the canal will be in the river if any additional erosion continues. Debris has been dumped in the intake area of the canal and will need to be cleared before irrigation season starts. The canal also serves as a fire suppression source on the G & L lines which will cause an extreme health and safety hazard for the area. The Irrigation district provides water to 12,000 with 3,000 farmers that will not have water for crops until canals are repaired. Approximately 10,000 acres of farm land will be adversely affected if they cannot restore the Maxwell Diversion and Lateral canals. This same area was also hit on DR4452 with more devastating results.

Confederate Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) – Miles of extensive road damage caused from flooding, stranded residents, and impaired emergency access.  Some temporary repairs have been made for access until permanent repairs can be made. The Tribe continue to assess damages and impacts.   

Milton-Freewater Water Control District – Levees and water control system heavily damaged during the flooding event. The system sustained two breeches and there is severe erosion, seepage, and leaking along the entire system. The community of Milton- Freewater evacuated at least 3,000 people due a levee failure that flooded several homes and toppled county bridges, road systems and threatened hundreds of homes. Multiple cubic yards of debris still exists in the waterway threatening improved property and structures from future flooding.

Pendleton – A levee breech due to flooding and high velocity of the river caused a sewer line to break which emptied directly into the Umatilla River. Heavy scouring and erosion around bridges in the City caused work crews to temporarily shut down bridges to inspect and remove debris from causing additional damages. No structural damages found and were re-opened within a day. 

Zone one levee remained intact with only minor seepages and leaks. City work crews quickly made emergency repairs to ensure the levees did not breech and to keep the downtown area safe from the floodwaters. The zone two levee in the industrial area was breeched in several locations causing severe damages. There was also significant scour and erosion that left multiple areas of the levee with one to two feet of levee remaining. The floodwaters heavily damaged two businesses, roads, and parking lots in the industrial area. Approximately 400 employees will be affected for three to seven months while repairs are made to the facilities to get them back into operations. Emergency protective measures (repairs) are currently being performed on the levee to ensure they can withstand additional flooding anticipated later this spring with more snowmelt in the Blue Mountains and surrounding area.  

Union County - Numerous roads (19) were damaged during the flooding event. Traffic re-routes during the flooding event and during emergency/temporary repairs are causing delays to residents, first responders, and county services. In the City of La Grande, flooding caused sewage backup into several private residences.