Record flood covers Ames Creek Farm
By Alicia Guy, Executive Director
At the beginning of November, when the rains came in great abundance across Western Washington, it brought about record floods.
Ames Creek Farm in Carnation, purchased earlier this year by the PCC Farmland Trust, was submerged by the deluge of water pouring over the banks of the Snoqualmie River across the road.
All three farmers lost the fall harvest and plantings destined for winter's farmers markets and CSA boxes. Michaele Blakely, the only farmer who lives at Ames Creek Farm, was hardest hit by the floodwaters. She had prepared for the flood by moving equipment, animal feed, freezers, chickens and the Thanksgiving turkeys to the highest ground on the farm.
The record flood level brought a foot of water even over the high spot. The turkeys flew up into the trees and most of the laying chickens found high perches; but Michaele lost most of her meat chickens.
The rest of her part of the farm was under six to 12 feet of muddy water, including the house with most of her personal belongings. The force of the water carried away two freezers and other farm equipment. Michaele and her son, Blake, secured things the best they could, but there just wasn't time to get everything out.
Andrew Stout, fortunately, had high ground on his part of Ames Creek Farm and at his home farm, Full Circle Farm, about four miles away. His losses were limited to crop damage.
Fong Cha moved his tractor and equipment from the lowest part of Ames Creek Farm, where he leases 20 acres, and drove it over to his home farm, Children's Garden, in Fall City. Unfortunately, his home farm was hit by the flooding as well. Four tractors and two vans were underwater for a time.
If salvageable, the repair work to his equipment and vehicles will be quite costly. The flood damage will extend for Fong Cha and many of the Hmong growers well into the sunny days of spring. Fong reports that half of the tulip bulbs planted in his acres of flower fields were taken away by the floodwaters. "Many of the farmers that I work with are quitting farming because of this flood," he says, "It is just too much lost."
Floodwaters have spilled from the confines of usually placid rivers for thousands of years. It's what makes the farmland so fertile and well suited to agriculture. But that gift of good earth is wrapped in vulnerability.
No matter how well planned the growing season is, it's always subject to volatility of the weather. A few more inches of rain at the right temperature can make the difference between seasonable sogginess and devastating inundation. It's a chance farmers are willing to take.
As a community that enjoys the pleasures of a year-round supply of locally grown food, we can stand behind hard-working Washington farmers when nature's whims get the best of them.
