Having had the pleasure of being born and raised in Chehalis, I have had my share of seeing the challenges that our community has been able to face and overcome.
They range from the need of partaking in the D.A.R.E. program to the times we come together during what used to be annual flooding in our community. Taking the time to look at the latter, I have seen that in many instances of a flood, various lowland areas around the community would be impacted. With these floods, they would bring various amounts of coverage, along with various amounts of damages and occasionally relocation challenges.
For those affected by flooding, one of the supports that some would become eligible for would be the emergency flood assistance provided by FEMA’s coverage area. This help would provide some recovery support to the families who would be affected in the flood zones. Due to the program’s regulations (but not being fully up to date on the rules) and potentially the regulations found in flood insurance plans, it’s possible some things would not be regained if lost by water damage. As a solution, I have felt that a way to help our lowland community to prevent these challenges from causing property damages would be to place storage water towers with water pumps around key locations of our community or county.
Installing these water tanks around our community would help ensure that if the water level rises and goes beyond the city sewage capabilities, it would still have a place to be stored until the flood season passes. Then, with regulated release, it would help ensure the least amount of damage to property owners.
Thank you everyone for reading and I hope this idea can provide an alternative solution in the hopes of helping our community in this matter.
Poncio Pulido
Chehalis
