A Late-June Flood Chases Newport’s Riverfront
The Pend Oreille kept rising after mid-June, drowning grain in the Calispel Valley and tearing planks from the Lumbermen’s Transportation docks.
The river has continued to rise the past week, contrary to general expectations. Today the water stands at 18.6, a rise of a foot in the past week. The Calispel valley south of Tacoma creek is pretty well flooded, and the large acreage of grain sowed this year is a total loss. North of Tacoma creek the dikes are still holding out the water from the seeded area and can stand several feet more water. For the river to rise after June 15 is a very unusual occurrence, something which has happened but a few times since the records of the river have been kept. As yet no damage has been done to the railroad grade.
The first damage done by the big high water along the Newport river front occurred Wednesday afternoon, when the planking of the Lumbermen’s Transportation docks floated away. It did not go far, the tramway rails holding it together, and it piled up along the side of the stream. Last year the dock suffered in a similar manner.
“For the river to rise after June 15 is a very unusual occurrence, something which has happened but a few times since the records of the river have been kept.”
Pend Oreille River floods still threaten low-lying farmland and waterfront infrastructure, and “unusual” late-season high water is becoming less unusual in a warming climate. The 1909 account is a reminder that Newport’s economy has long been tied to the river’s mood.
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