Ames Creek Farm Flood Update
November 29, 2006
On Sunday, November 17, a group of 14 volunteers donned all the heavy-duty rain gear they had and got right down to working in the mud at Ames Creek Farm in Carnation. Michaele Blakely's 31 acres had been completely submerged the week of November 6 when the Snoqualmie River across the street ran over its banks.
Most of the farm had been under six to 12 feet of water. Two feet of water had crept into the house. It was like the farm had been in a mile-wide washing machine. Equipment, vegetables and personal belongings were flung far and wide. Blackberry bushes lining the road acted as nets, snagging everything that floated by. One had ensnared a child's bicycle that had had been twisted and mangled in its high-water journey.
As the rain came down in sheets, volunteers walked through the brush and mud puddles picking up waterlogged items and putting them in plastic garbage bags. Because of the high probability of contamination and the presence of mold, anything that had been in the floodwater was considered garbage.
There were great heaps of Michaele Blakely's personal things waiting to be heaved into the dump truck. She assured us she had said her goodbye to some things that were special to her - gifts received over the years and Christmas decorations from when her boys were children- but it was still hard to make that final toss of someone's history into the dump truck.
Michaele has been going through the maze of bureaucracy that is required to receive federal aid. Unfortunately, her insurance does not cover any of the flood losses.
At this point, President Bush has not declared King County a natural disaster area after the flooding on November 6. Even if the money were available from FEMA, the farm business does not qualify for aid.
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is still assessing whether the armers in King County have suffered a substantial loss. If the decision is made that they have, then some federal money will be available for farmers to take out a loan. Michaele is making do the best she can and maintaining her unshakeable optimism that 2007 will be a better year.
Fong Cha and Ma Thao are also planning a recovery from the flood. All of the vegetables at his leased portion of Ames Creek were destroyed, but the family is making slow progress at their home farm, Children's Garden Farm, in Fall City.
We offered to send a volunteer group to their farm, but they politely declined. Ma Thao would prefer to carefully dig up the dahlia bulbs that survived the flood herself, as it is a very delicate operation. The Pike Place Market has organized to supply Hmong flower sellers with a supply of tulip bulbs to replace the ones that floated away in the flood.
With help, Fong has been able to get three of his four tractors started. The gas tanks of his two vans were filled with water and he is looking for some mechanical assistance to repair them. Fong says that many Hmong farmers are giving up farming after this flood. The loss for some of them was too great.
Andrew Stout at Full Circle Farm fared pretty well in the flooding. He fortunately had a crew that could do some speed-harvesting when news of the imminent flood came in. Still, anything left in his Ames Creek fields went underwater. Hundreds of sunburst squash lined the road coming into Ames Creek Farm, the flood's way of decorating for Autumn.