Major Cedar River flooding beats 1990 record

The atmospheric river flooding has beaten a 35-year record for the Cedar River in Renton.

On Dec. 11, the flood levels peaked at 18.25 feet at 3 p.m., according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The levels stayed around 17 feet throughout the evening before spiking up to 18.21 feet at 10:30 p.m.

As of 11:15 a.m. Dec. 12, the flood levels have slowly decreased to 16.23 feet.

At 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, the flood levels had crested at 17.19 feet, which broke the previous record of 17.13 feet, which was set on Nov. 24, 1990.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that anything above 16 feet is considered major flooding, which means that “the Cedar River will cause major flooding in Renton, especially at the Renton Airport. Flooding will occur all along the river including headwaters, tributaries, and other streams within and near the Cedar River Basin.”

As of 10:07 a.m. Friday morning, the City of Renton announced that the Renton Community Center is closed due to a power outage and that the Niles Avenue Northeast bridge is expected to be closed through the weekend.

People from the Maplewood neighborhood off of SR-169, which runs along the Cedar River, had made a public call for help, asking for people to come with sandbags to keep the water at bay.

“We’re in the most flood-prone neighborhoods in Renton and there’s one spot that is getting breached, and if we just sandbag that spot, we’re going to prevent the water from going in the neighborhood,” said Maplewood resident Chelsea Towers.

Towers and the other residents, along with what she calls Good Samaritans (including a delivery driver), have pitched in to help. Towers told the Reporter that she and others had been driving back and forth from the county’s public sandbag station to the neighborhood, where they have been filling bags with sand, packing them into SUVs and pickup trucks, and driving them back to try and keep the water back.

On Thursday evening, Maplewood residents paid for 5 yards of sand to be delivered by Burien Bark. According to Towers, Burien Bark was the only organization that would deliver sand. Several neighbors had reached out to the city for assistance, but Towers said that Renton’s Public Works department was unable to deliver sandbags to private properties.

Homes along Southeast Jones Road have also experienced severe flooding, with water coming up over the roadway and trees knocking down a powerline.

While the flood levels are lower, they are still extremely high and considered to be at a major level, according to NOAA and the King County Flood Warning Division says that the Cedar River is still in the maximum flood phase, which is four on a scale of zero to four.

For those who need sandbags, materials can be procured at King County, which is open 24/7, at 3021 Northeast 4th Street, and Renton Public Works Maintenance Shop at 3555 Northeast 2nd Street, which is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check in at the A-1 Building for the latter.

The City of Renton asks that residents check with the Emergency Management division website for updates.

Note: This article will be updated as needed.

Taken at 5:16 p.m. on Thursday night, Maplewood neighbors work into the night to create sandbags to keep the Cedar River from flooding homes. The neighbors had paid Burien Bark to deliver the sand, which they hand-bagged. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.

Jones Road near Cedar River has water of the roadway and filling people’s homes from the record-breaking flood. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.

Pickup trucks and other vehicles have been traveling back and forth between the public sandbag station and the Maplewood neighborhood since 6 a.m. Dec. 11. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing