The Cold Snap That Stopped the Floods—and the Tide That Didn’t
A January thaw sent slides and high water across Western Washington, washing out bridges, stalling Great Northern trains, and pushing Salmon Bay into Seattle homes.
The cold snap of the last two days has effectually checked the floods and slides, and the railroads will today be again in running order. The water has gone down in the rivers to the north and has retreated from the deltas, and Great Northern trains are expected to get past the sliding hills this morning, one having done so yesterday. The Lake Shore road was also cleared of slides, and the bridge near Snohomish was repaired.
The tide in Salmon Bay rose so high that it flooded the first floor of one unoccupied residence, and is standing two and three feet deep around the residences of J. Morton and W. R. Mullen, lacking but a very few inches of the first floors. Continued high water may flood five other residences in the same vicinity.
On Hood's Canal the storm did great damage on the north side last Saturday. Nearly all the bridges were washed out. The Port Townsend and Southern Railway was damaged, and at Quilcene the river overflowed the lowlands, doing much damage to farming land. Another gale prevailed on the lower coast last night.
The Skagit went down two feet today, and the dangerous stage of the flood is now over. The flooded districts are still under water, however, and will continue to be for several days. The first Great Northern train for four days arrived at 7 o'clock this evening with the mail car of Superintendent Farrell, which was caught off here. The train had been delayed in getting over the track near Fir on account of washed-out ballast, but Superintendent Farrell says the track is all right now and trains will be on time tomorrow. Saturday's mail arrived tonight, but no mail has come for Sunday or today from any direction.
Reports from the flooded districts say the water is subsiding. Trains had no trouble today running between Anacortes and Hamilton, the track not being washed as reported yesterday. Salt water covered the Samish and the northern part of the Swinomish flats, but the water which overflowed the lands east and south of La Conner was not salt enough to render the lands unfit for growing crops the coming season.
“The tide in Salmon Bay rose so high that it flooded the first floor of one unoccupied residence, and is standing two and three feet deep around the residences of J. Morton and W. R. Mullen.”
Western Washington’s rivers and lowlands still flood when warm rain follows snow, and Salmon Bay remains a place where the built environment sits close to the water line. The 1890s recipe—rail disruptions, washed-out bridges, and homes on low ground—has not changed as much as the machinery.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.