Major Cedar River flooding beats 1990 record

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

On Thursday, Dec. 11, the flood levels peaked at 18.25 feet at 3 p.m., according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), breaking the previous record of 17.13 feet, which was set on Nov. 24, 1990.

From Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 10) through the following evening, flooding in low-level areas along the Cedar River like the Maplewood neighborhood, the Riviera Apartments off of SR-169 and homes along Southeast Jones Road was a major concern.

The apartments and several Jones Road homes were flooded, while people from the Maplewood neighborhood off of SR-169 made a public call for help, asking for people to come with sandbags to keep the river that runs close to their homes 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), 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 on Wednesday and Thursday, where they had 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, Dec. 11, 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 to them, many not even answering the phone. 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, which was confirmed by a representative of the City of Renton.

By the evening of Friday, Dec. 12, the flood levels slowly decreased below 16 feet where the water consistently stayed in the moderate flood level until Sunday morning on Dec. 14, when the water receded to the minor flood level below 14.5 feet.

The river decreased into Tuesday, Dec. 16, though the level was still considered high. As of 8:15 a.m. Dec. 16 , the water levels in the Cedar River in Renton had decreased to roughly 14 feet.

On Dec. 12, the City of Renton announced that the Renton Community Center was closed due to a power outage and several bridges were closed throughout the weekend, but have since been re-opened for vehicles.

Before noon on Dec. 15, a breach had been made at a Green River levee in Tukwila, prompting a flash flood warning and a GO NOW evacuation notice to small portions of Tukwila, Renton and Kent. Initially, the alert included the Valley Medical Center and the Renton area along SR-167, but was then reduced to a smaller sized area. The alert was canceled around 7 p.m. later that evening.

Throughout the flooding, photos and videos from residents also breached local Renton-related Facebook pages, sharing updates that included a beaver that had been caught in the Cedar River’s current further upstream before making its way to shore near the Renton Memorial Stadium. Debbie Muratore told the Renton Reporter that her husband had spotted the tuckered-out Castor canadensis late morning Dec. 11.

“Maybe his dam got destroyed in the river and he floated way down with it,” she said. Another Facebook post confirmed that the beaver was still resting along the banks several hours later.

While the flood levels are lower, the King County Flood Warning Division says that the Cedar River is still in a high flood phase, at phase three 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.

A beaver rests on the banks of the Cedar River near the Renton Memorial Stadium. Screenshot from video courtesy of Debbie Muratore

Maplewood residents and helpers fill up sandbag after sandbag at the county public sandbag station in the Highlands to keep the water from getting into their neighborhood on Dec. 11. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.

The Cedar River at the Renton Library on Thursday morning, Dec. 11. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.

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.