Flood — Ferry, Washington

2018-05-05 to 2018-05-20 · near Toroda, Ferry, Washington

Event narrative

The USGS River Gage on the Kettle River near Ferry recorded a rise above the Flood Stage of 18.5 feet at 6:00 AM PST on May 5th. The river continued to rise and passed through the Moderate Flood Stage of 19.5 feet at 11:30 AM on May 7th, and through the Major Flood Stage of 20.5 feet at 6:00 PM PST on May 9th. The river crested at a new record flood level of 22.5 feet at 6:15 PM on May 10th. This level broke the previous record level of 21.2 feet set in 1948. The river then receded, passing down through the Major Flood Stage on May 11th, and below the Moderate Flood Stage on May 19th. The river finally receded below the Flood Stage at 1:30 AM PST on May 20th.

Wider weather episode

Run off from melting of near record snow pack in the British Columbia mountains promoted record flooding on the Kettle River during the second and third weeks of May. Bottom lands and parks along the river were extensively inundated as well as yards and outbuildings. Many homes near the river suffered basement flooding and a few homes received first floor flooding.

Highway 21 near Danville, a major highway through this rural area, was closed due to the river flooding the road. Customs Road, running along the north side of the river was flooded in multiple locations, cutting off access to numerous residencies along the river. Highway 395, another major thoroughfare along the river, was threatened with erosion and traffic was restricted in places. One bridge over the Kettle River suffered partial erosion of the abutment requiring extensive repairs.

The swollen river cut off access to to every home along the river between Curlew and Toroda through flooding of access roads and driveways. Emergency officials evacuated some stranded residents with boats.

In Stevens County the river eroded a steep sandy bank leading to an outbuilding being swept into the river on May 13th. The associated home was also threatened. This house was saved after heavy equipment physically moved the house farther from the bank.

The extent of the flooding prompted the Governor of Washington State to include Ferry County in a State of Emergency Declaration.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (48.9973, -118.7953)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 756472. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.