BELLINGHAM — Whatcom County residents and government agencies are turning toward recovery after torrential November rains caused two rounds of devastating floods along the Nooksack River.
A Recovery Task Force, including mayors of small cities and representatives of business and human-services agencies, will begin work today, according to the Whatcom County Public Works Department website.
Skies cleared Thursday morning after a three-week barrage of “atmospheric river” storms triggered widespread flooding Nov. 13 to 15 and inundated Everson, Nooksack and Sumas for a second time Nov. 27 and 28.
“We are thankful,” Sumas Mayor Kyle Christensen said.
“It’s pretty dry around town. We’re able to let people back to their houses and start cleaning up the secondary damage,” Christensen told The Bellingham Herald.
All flood watches and warnings were canceled and the threat of landslides was easing, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Forecasts call for partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures through tonight. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 10- to 14-day weather outlook calls for below-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation.
That means snow in the mountains and possibly a rain-snow mix this weekend on hills surrounding Bellingham.
“Any places that do manage to clear out by (Thursday) night will likely see some morning fog come Friday,” meteorologist Mary Butwin said in the online forecast discussion. “The next weather system is expected to move through Saturday. This will be a cooler system from what we have been seeing recently. As a result, the mountains will likely see snow.”
Bellingham saw its wettest November on record, with 14.57 inches — a mark that’s nearly triple the normal monthly rainfall of 5.2 inches.
It’s also been the wettest meteorological autumn for Bellingham, with 23.55 inches from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, against a normal 11.05 inches, according to NOAA.
In hard-hit Sumas, a total of 316 homes suffered at least some flood damage, Christensen said.
Damage had been reported to more than 700 homes across Whatcom County through Wednesday, said Amy Cloud, spokeswoman for the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
“We can’t be sure of the total number of displaced individuals, as some are staying with family or friends and have not requested assistance,” Cloud told The Herald in an email.
