Flooding along the Cowlitz River completely covered U.S. Highway 12 east of Randle.
Steve Mansfield, director of Lewis County Emergency Managment, discusses damage assessments in East Lewis County due to this week's flooding of the Cowlitz River at a meeting Thursday in Chehalis.
With river levels dropping, crews from multiple Lewis County offices and departments are heading to the Randle and Packwood area to assess the damage from this week’s flooding.
Lewis County has to have at least $270,000 in damage to public property to qualify for financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Public Works Director Tim Elsea said on Thursday damage to roads and other public entities, debris cleanup and emergency measures, such as overtime, for his department alone will exceed that threshold.
Elsea said he expects the Cline Road area outside of Randle to have some of the heaviest damage, as well as Coal Creek Road in Packwood where the creek jumped its banks.
“We’re not going to know everything until the water goes down in a lot of areas,” Elsea said.
Erik Martin, Lewis County maintenance and traffic engineer, said many roads are reopening as waters recede, and while there is a lot of cleanup and repair work to be done, it’s not as bad as it could have been.
The slide on Mossyrock Road East was cleared Wednesday evening. Elsea said he is concerned about the possibility of more slides on county roads.
Lewis County’s central shop used more than 500 sandbags and 14 yards of sand.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and Central Services, which includes facilities and the 911 dispatch center, and other county offices and departments will also likely be reporting estimates.
Michael Strozyk, director of Central Services, said Schaefer and South County parks were both hit by flooding.
Lewis County will be accepting damage and debris cleanup estimates from other public agencies, such as fire school districts, cities and the Lewis County PUD.
The numbers will be sent to the state, which needs to hit $9.5 million in damage to qualify for federal assistance.
Steve Mansfield, Emergency Management director, said the county will also be collecting data in the hope of qualifying for individual assistance for residents.
He said, generally, individual assistance is based on areas where 25 or more homes were damaged.
“That’s very hard to reach in the east end of this county,” he said.
After the 2006 flood, 164 homes were impacted in the East Lewis County, Mansfield said, and the individual assistance program played a role in helping them recover.
When residents with property damage are identified, Mansfield said the county will work with them to connect them to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, faith-based organizations or possibly United Way of Lewis County for assistance.
He said one family stayed at the Red Cross shelter set up in Packwood before returning home. It was closed Thursday based on a lack of need.
Lewis County Assessor Dianne Dorey said her office will begin sending appraisers on Monday to determine lost property values. Dorey also encourages residents to file destroyed property forms with the office, which will provide more specific information.
“We have to remove that value off of these people because they would be paying an unfair tax bill in February,” Dorey said.
The Assessor’s Office recently completed reevaluating areas in East Lewis County.
She said after the 2007 flood, it took her office two weeks to complete their physical evaluation process.
