As the rain poured down last week, King County employees swung into action as the region braced for impact from another devastating winter storm.

The county started its flood response Jan. 6 and was on a 24-hour schedule to provide regional coordination of resources and information. It closed last Sunday after five days of monitoring flooding on area rivers such as the Cedar, which the National Weather Service still had on flood warning Monday morning.

On Thursday, County Executive Ron Sims signed a local proclamation of emergency, allowing officials to respond quickly to make repairs or do other work to county-owned equipment and facilities.

“Our own employees are out there right now and they’ve been out there 12-hour shifts now four weeks in snow, ice, flooding – extraordinary work,” Sims said during a tour of flood-damaged areas.

County Councilman Reagan Dunn, whose district includes Maple Valley and Covington, toured the area with Sims and said the damage “was pretty profound” but gave the county good grades for its response.

“Overall, I thought the county did a pretty good job,” Dunn said. “I think that the (countywide) flood district that we set up a year ago made a huge difference in building up the levees. We’re putting in about $35 million annually into levee replacement and repair, including much of it along the Cedar River.”

Dunn said that there were a few hiccups along the way, including a few places where road signs could have been posted better or intersections could have had better police presence, but those things can be learned from and improved upon.

Flood-patrol crews were operating 24 hours a day through last Sunday as they continued checking levees and other flood control structures. Among the places visited by the crews was the Cedar River. There were reports of damage to the Belmondo levee near Maple Valley Highway, as well as the Jan Road Levee near Maple Valley that will need repair.

Crews were also repairing a broken sewer line at the Cedar Grove Mobile Home Park near Maple Valley.

Road crews also cleared slides and made temporary road repairs to allow access for residents along the Cedar River. Impacted or damaged roads in this area include Byers Road and 216th Avenue Southeast off of State Route 169.

As of Monday morning, the Cedar River was at a Phase 4 flood alert level because of controlled releases from an upstream dam, which is operated by the city of Seattle, officials said.

Staff writer Kris Hill can be reached at (425) 432-1209 (extension 5054) and khill@reporternewspapers.com