December Flooding

The flooding in the area was beyond devastating. We spent a weekend volunteering in Lewis County, in the small town of Pe Ell. We saw homes with 8 feet of mud, people burning all of their belongings because there was no other way to dispose of them. The air was filled with the earthy smell of mud, water, and animals. Driving home we saw random things sitting ten feet up in trees, roofs of homes floating down the river, and large bridges snapped like twigs.While the flooding did some major damage, I did get to attend an amazing celebration for the Chico Estuary Acquistion. The tribe did an amazing naming ceremony and the Salmon were out in the hundreds, fighting against the flood water to get upstream. The celebration was timely, as this acquisition of the estuary will help to protect the land from future flooding.