Homeowners face cleanup after flood waters recede in Lewis County
By SARAH HURWITZ
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CENTRALIA, Washington (KPTV) — As the flood waters recede in Lewis County, now the focus turns to cleanup and recovery.
Lewis County Emergency Management says most county roads are now reopen, after flood waters shut down I-5 near Chehalis on Friday.
For David Madrigal, the mud and a flooded crawl space are the worst of what the flood waters damaged at his home in Centralia.
“We had water coming from here, this was a river and we thought for sure it was just going to start coming this way,” Madrigal said. “We were terrified.”
The water he says came clear up to his steps.
He knew that anything could happen after going through the 2007 floods and living right next to the Skookumchuck River.
“It was just like a tide, I mean we thought this is it you know the water it’s going to go in the house,” Madrigal said. “We didn’t know how bad it could get.”
Down the road where other family members live, several things he’d stored in the garage were destroyed by the flooding.
“All this stuff got ruined,” Madrigal said. “It was a floating mess here for a minute.”
Around the corner, Jeannette Lee faced a similar situation.
“It moved my hot tub, floated away a little bit,” Lee said. “And the garage is fully covered inside of water, got all over everything.”
For those who are now dealing with cleanup, you can head to Lewis County’s Emergency Management website.
On the site you can submit damage reports or get tips on safe and quick cleanup to avoid mold.
Lewis County Emergency Management says Team Rubicon, a volunteer disaster relief organization made up of veterans, active-duty members and former first responders will be heading out this week to work with those who are uninsured as well as vulnerable populations.
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