Stories from the storm

Danuta Kasprzyk and her husband, Dan Montano, were moments from boarding the first leg of their flight to Zimbabwe when their son called to say that Thornton Creek was creeping across their lawn.

They hesitated. Delay a long-planned trip to work on two HIV projects the husband-wife research team help run, or turn back? "We thought about it and said, 'Well, it's not going to get any better," Dan Montano said.

But they couldn't foresee how bad it would get.

By the time the taxi dropped them back in Seattle's Meadowbrook neighborhood at 6:30 a.m., water was pouring into the basement. By midday the basement bathroom, office, laundry room and television room were under several feet of muddy water. Flotsam bobbed near the stairs: a blue backpack, a tin of chocolates, a towel.

The water rushed in so fast they didn't have time to save most things, not their three children's art projects dating back to kindergarten, not the books from Kasprzyk's childhood she had hoped to pass on.

Thornton Creek — where the kids used to race toy boats during Labor Day picnics — was no longer the sedate stream running through their backyard. It was a brown torrent, spread across their yard and several others.

In the hours after the flooding began, the couple went on a mad hunt for sandbags. They understood the city would deliver them, but then sent the kids to Home Depot to just buy them. Finally, they heard of a stockpile blocks away.

As they stood in their home, long after the sandbags were in place, a city dump truck pulled up to drop its load at the corner.

"Oh great, Dan," Kasprzyk said, sarcastically. "Sand."

— Warren Cornwall

Clothing donations needed

Flooding ruined clothes to be donated next week to nearly 150 women living in shelters or transitional housing.

The "Queen, It's a New Day" event, to be held next Monday at the Embassy Suites in Lynnwood, offers poor women a day of rare luxury — makeovers and the chance to select items for their wardrobe.

"We walked into the basement of the place where we were storing the clothes, and much of it was a foot under water," said Julie Dickhaut, a volunteer for Everett's Recovery for Life Training Center, which sponsors the event. "At this point, we are in such a need, either money or clothes. We need new separates, coats, shoes, undergarments, handbags and more."

To donate before Monday, call Marsha at 425-252-6484, Ext. 102. New or lightly used clothes also can be brought to Life Changes Ministry, 2532 Virginia Ave., Everett.

— Christopher Schwarzen

Helping hands

With North Creek threatening to overflow its banks Monday, many businesses in Bothell were evacuated.

When staff at Bright Horizons day care were told to move out their 30 children, they turned to the school down the road. The kids were driven to Woodinville Montessori, a safer distance from the creek.

Mary Schneider, head of the Montessori school, was happy to help. "I'm sure they would do the same," she said.

Nearby, officials at Canyon Hills Community Church watched the rushing creek form a large pond a couple of feet from their sanctuary. Volunteers in the 2,000-member church were on call to help move electrical equipment and a Steinway piano, but church leaders were hoping it wouldn't come to that.

"You just take it as it comes and put it in the good Lord's hands," said Bobby Crist, assistant facilities manager. "What more can you do?"

— Ashley Bach

Draining battle

No matter which way you view it, it's a David-vs.-Goliath battle: Derek Thirstrup against the rising water. Or is it Derek Thirstrup against the city?

The Haller Lake-area homeowner woke up Monday morning to find water rushing into his yard. A little while later, his carpet was soaked. By midafternoon, water in his backyard was thigh-deep.

"And I'm 6-foot-3," he said. You get the picture.

Thousands of gallons from Northacres Park and a neighbor's house were flooding his home, Thirstrup said, via a road drain around the corner. The same thing happened last year, during the December storm, he said. Only this time, it's been worse.

Thirstrup, who works as a chemist, blames the city of Seattle. But when he called to complain, he was told it wasn't a city drain. It was a private drain — not the city's responsibility.

How about insurance?

"I was an insurance adjuster," he sighed. "Surface water is excluded" from coverage.

— Maureen O'Hagan

Human, canine rescue

An overflowing storm drain forced as many as 50 residents from four apartment buildings in North Seattle.

Firefighters carried some people out, and evacuated three people and four dogs in a rubber raft.

The deluge, centered on Midvale Avenue North and North 107th Street, caused water to rise to 7 to 10 feet in spots.

— Warren Cornwall

Fears in Madison Valley

Michael Adams' Madison Valley backyard was submerged Monday in about a foot of water. A block away, in his sister's yard, a pond was growing.

Both have been afraid to go into their basements during heavy rain since a neighbor, Kate Fleming, drowned in hers during the Dec. 14-15 storm in 2006. Monday's flooding was less severe.

Born and raised in Madison Valley, Adams has seen at least eight floods in the neighborhood, and over 25 years, has gone to meeting after meeting about the problem.

Since last year's storm, Seattle Public Utilities finished a retention pond at 30th Avenue East and East John Street, a half-block from Adams' house. The pond, which the utility considers a temporary fix, holds stormwater overflow from the drainage system so it won't back up into basements through the sewer pipes.

For a long-term solution, the city is considering buying and tearing down 17 homes to create a larger drainage area, which many residents oppose; or building a separate pond in the Arboretum and diverting runoff from the valley there.

The city, which sent out trucks Monday to help neighbors pump water out of their yards, said the new pond was working properly, and flooding in people's yards came from storm runoff, not water from the city's drains.

— Sharon Pian Chan

Better than an ark

Reindeer, zebras and horses were among the first animals to arrive Monday at the Snohomish County Fairgrounds in Monroe, when barns and stalls were opened to provide shelter.

For information on keeping animals at the fairgrounds, call Bruce Crowley, fairgrounds caretaker, 425-508-1840.

— Christopher Schwarzen