In tiny Silvana, flooding is a way of life. This time the river reached a record high

SILVANA — Willow and Jim Payne tracked the rising waters of the Stillaguamish River from the second-floor windows of their home and cafe Tuesday, sending photos to neighbors and occasionally stepping outside to see how far the water had risen.

Willow Payne kept an eye on data from a hydrograph upstream in Arlington and posted updates to the town’s private Facebook group. Around 1 p.m., she issued a warning to her neighbors: The town would soon be entirely flooded.

About an hour later, the Stillaguamish set a record and crested at 21.34 feet. Homes and businesses were inundated, water spilled into farm fields, and for several hours Silvana was reachable only by boat.

The flooding was caused by an atmospheric river, or a long, narrow stream of moist air in the atmosphere, that traveled to Western Washington and dumped warm, tropic rain across the region. Precipitation eased Wednesday, and snow elevations in Washington were forecast to drop to pass levels by early Thursday.

On Wednesday, after the water had largely receded from Silvana, a town of around 50 buildings set on an island in the middle of a flood plain, the Paynes were preparing to make a big pot of coffee and chicken soup at their cafe for everyone cleaning up the town’s businesses, homes and yards. The main strip of town includes a post office, the cafe, a marijuana store and a butcher shop.

The American Red Cross set up a shelter at a church for displaced residents on Tuesday, said spokesperson Betsy Robertson, and around seven people stayed in the shelter overnight. About 16 RVs were parked outside with people also using facilities at the church, she said.

Flooding is part of life in Silvana, occurring more than once a year sometimes, said Kevin Buhr, whose home of 20 years faces Pioneer Highway, the main street in the Snohomish County town. On Wednesday morning, Buhr power-washed silt off his steps and walkway and examined how far the gravel from his driveway had washed away.

Water doesn’t typically go into his home unless someone, ignoring a closed road sign, drives down the road and creates a wake that can push water over his top step, he said. While Buhr was out of town last night, his neighbor sent him a photo that showed the water about two feet over the surface.

Up and down the road, people were mopping up after the flood, spraying down pavement to clear silt or pumping water out of a basement.

Pushing dark water out the door with a squeegee, Getchell firefighter Travis Hots said he took the day off to help clean the Silvana Viking Hall, a local community center where he was married. 

Flooding is so common, said Jim Payne, that when he and his wife rebuilt their cafe almost 10 years ago, they were sure to set it above the road, anticipating floods. They would have made the base of the building even higher, if it hadn’t meant having to wrap the wheelchair ramp around the corner, he said.

“It sounds like a cliché to say every flood is different, but they really are,” Jim Payne said.

Climate change is expected to worsen river flooding, including on the Snohomish and Stillaguamish rivers, according to a report by the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group.

On average, the report states peak flows will “increase substantially,” ranging from 10% to 40% on average by the 2080s on the two rivers. The Stillaguamish’s peak flow over a day in Silvana is projected to increase between 17% and 34%, according to the report.

The primary drivers in intensifying river flooding, according to the report, are more heavy rains and a declining snowpack — which would increase how much moisture falls as rain during a storm. While the snowpack in the Snohomish and Stillaguamish watersheds has already “declined significantly” over recent decades and will continue, heavy rainstorms are projected to become more intense between 2050 and 2100.

Local residents said this week’s flood arrived quickly and water moved in through different channels than normal. Compared with other floods, the debris on the streets wasn’t too bad, Jim Payne said, just a layer of silt everywhere. 

Willow Payne said the depth of the flood came as a surprise since the original forecast projected a crest of about 16 or 17 feet and community members did not think it would be necessary to sandbag their homes.

Speaking around noon Wednesday, Silvana Fire Department Capt. Gino Bellizzi said he was approaching his 31st hour of work. Firefighters — traveling in a hovercraft that can go on both land and water — had been responding to calls, rescuing people from homes or cars stalled in water, and knocking on doors all through Tuesday and overnight.

Around midnight, Bellizzi said he responded to some farm homes in Stanwood that were more than one story high, near the river that had flooded. Around five to six people, some who had lost power, were asking to be rescued, but firefighters, reassuring them that the water would go down soon, persuaded them to shelter in place.

Bellizzi was about to catch some sleep around 7 a.m. when another call came in about a small gas spill.

In his 20 years in the town, Bellizzi said the flood was one of the highest in his memory aside from the flood of 2010, the previous record high for the river when it reached 21.16 feet.

On Tuesday evening, a rumor circulated online that the town was being evacuated, which must have been a miscommunication, he said.

“The phones were blowing up yesterday with ‘Are you evacuating 200 people in Silvana?’ I’m like, ‘there isn’t 200 people in Silvana on a good day,’ ” Bellizzi said.