This post comes from staff writer Craig Welch.

King County executive candidate Susan Hutchison wants to call in the Marines to protect the Green River Valley from flooding.

In a webcast today, Hutchison criticized efforts to warn southern King County residents that the Army Corps of Engineers may intentionally cause a flood this winter to protect the damaged Howard Hanson Dam. She said public officials have been sounding the alarm for weeks that residents and businesses should have emergency kits, buy flood insurance and be prepared for the possibility that the Green River would overflow its banks. Instead, she said, officials should do more to prevent it.

"It is unquestioned that we face an economic, environmental and human disaster that could cost billions of dollars and ruin many lives," said the former KIRO-TV news anchor, who is running against County Council Chairman Dow Constantine. "What is questionable is why authorities are focusing on emergency preparedness measures, while precious time passes without action to prevent the disaster from occurring. We should be doing everything humanly possible to shore up the levees to prevent flooding."

On the same day Army Corps Col. Anthony Wright - who oversees efforts to repair the dam - testified before the King County Council, Hutchison said that if elected she would "move immediately through jurisdictional channels to call up the engineering units of the local Marine, Army and Air Force at nearby Fort Lewis and McChord to work under the direction of the Corps of Engineers to build up the most at-risk sections of the levees." She called on the Corps to provide weekly alerts about flow levels of the river and the reservoir behind the dam and inspect the riverbed for obstructions between Kent and the Duwamish River.

Army Corps spokeswoman Patricia Graesser said, "All ideas are welcome and any suggestion is a good suggestion at this point."

But Graesser also pointed out that the county, the Corps and the cities of Kent, Tukwila, Renton and Auburn already have made plans to add height to the levees and already have begun gathering material to do the work. The Corps also already puts real time flow data on its Web site; has been updating a weekly telephone information line (1-866-596-2635) since Sept. 15; and plans to post updates on Twitter once the rainy season starts. And, Graesser said, engineers have been regularly inspecting the levees since last November and are well-aware of the weak points.

Graesser also said the county could request, through the state, federal help - and in some instances has. But neither the county nor the state typically call in the Marines, or for that matter, the Army. The governor can call in the National Guard, but usually the federal government would be called upon "after a declaration of a federal disaster," Graesser wrote in a follow-up e-mail. "Ordinarily, the Corps of Engineers is a responding, rather than a directing, agency."

Late this afternoon, the city of Kent announced it plans to place 20,000 giant sand bags along the Green River levees beginning Wednesday. The bags will be in place by Nov. 1, the city said.