CONCRETE — Concrete residents feel stuck in a holding pattern.
After enduring flooding, landslides and earthquakes in recent days, some residents of the small town along the Skagit River feel as if anything could be next.
On Tuesday, Dec. 16, while county and city employees monitored two landslides in Concrete, a third occurred off Lake Shannon Road. Two previous landslides in separate neighborhoods resulted in a total of 40 homes being placed under evacuation orders.
As Concrete awaits inches of more rain, the streets of the town were mostly quiet Tuesday with an occasional buzz of service and utility trucks. Multiple fire rescue boats were towed through town, at the ready but seemingly not needed.
Multiple residents who hadn’t evacuated as of Tuesday spoke of a now multi-week frustration with what they consider a confusing information and communication space from officials.
Gallery: Concrete deals with series of natural disasters
The multiple landslides left Concrete residents remembering unpleasant memories of the fatal 2014 landslides in Oso, all while facing the uncertainty of more rain.
Ryan Broyles, who recently moved to Concrete, lived closer to Oso at the time of the 2014 landslides and vividly remembers the devastation. Broyles is one of many Concrete residents living at the base of a hill near Burpee Hill Road, where one of the recent landslides occurred.
“Landslides are no joke, that’s why I’m tripping out,” Broyles said Tuesday from inside his home. “Should we all evacuate? Because if this turns into another Oso …”
Although Skagit County considers the landslides minor, 32 residents near Broyles and the Burpee Hill landslide are under a Level 2 “Get Set” evacuation. Residents who traversed the closed road said multiple trees were down and the pavement was being eaten away. Broyles, who relocated to Concrete for affordability, said landslides weren’t on his mind when he bought his home.
“I knew I was buying outside the floodplain so I thought I’d be good,” Broyles said, adding that weeks after moving in, he noticed how soft the soil was when he dug into the ground while cleaning up after his dog.
A landslide on Eriksen Place in Concrete caused multiple nearby homes to receive evacuation notices. (Owen Racer/Cascadia Daily News)
As Broyles, who was begrudgingly missing work to be evacuation-ready at home, considered calling his insurer Tuesday, just down Main Street multiple American Red Cross volunteers were erecting cots at the Mount Baker Presbyterian Church. The shelter opened Monday night, Dec. 15, but no one stayed the night into Tuesday, a volunteer said. Skagit County says the shelter welcomes pets and has the capacity for 45 beds.
In Concrete, but on the other side of the North Cascades Highway, muddy water streamed downhill from a landslide on Eriksen Place. Eight homes in the neighborhood at the base of the hill were issued Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation orders. Not all residents left.
Along with his family, Jonathan Guzman, a 16-year-old Concrete High School student, stayed put on a mostly quiet street that avoided flooding. With school closed and a quiet town on Tuesday, Guzman said he was left unsure what to do with his time. Guzman said some residents near the landslide didn’t learn of the incident until days after it occurred.
Jonathan Guzman, 16, a Concrete high schooler, was one of a few residents to receive an evacuation notice after a landslide on Eriksen Place. (Owen Racer/Cascadia Daily News)
The Skagit River in Concrete is expected to reach its peak of 33.75 feet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, the county said in a statement. Around midday Tuesday, a measurement near the Concrete Sauk Valley Bridge read just under 29 feet.
Following days of heavy rain, Skagit River flooding, and two small earthquakes that hit just southwest of Concrete Monday morning, residents’ patience for uncertainty and what they considered unclear and inconsistent communication from officials was waning Tuesday.
Concrete’s Public Works and fire department directed inquiries to the city’s town hall. Concrete’s outgoing mayor couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday despite repeated attempts.
Ahead of more inches of rain and heavy winds Tuesday night into Wednesday, many Concrete residents who remained questioned if and when they, too, like their neighbors, may decide to leave.
Owen Racer is a Report for America corps member who covers health care and public health in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Reach him at owenracer@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 101. Learn more and donate at cascadiadaily.com/rfa.