Heavy rains in Scatchet Head cause flooding and slides

Scatchet Head residents put up sandbag barricades on Driftwood Drive after an overnight gully washer made Sweetwater Creek overflow its banks and threaten homes in the neighborhood.

Scatchet Head residents put up sandbag barricades on Driftwood Drive after an overnight gully washer made Sweetwater Creek overflow its banks and threaten homes in the neighborhood.

The floodwaters were more than a foot deep in Totem Park, and the water was nearly a foot deep in yards near the tennis courts near the Scatchet Head community center. Several mudslides along Sweetwater Creek pushed mud, wood and other debris through the neighborhood, and a huge muddy plume from the creek stretched out several hundred yards into Cultus Bay.

Residents at the scene said it looked as though the high water had gone inside several homes.

A small group of homeowners spent Saturday morning trying to clear storm drains along Driftwood Drive. Personnel from Fire District 3 were also at the scene.

“You couldn’t see the road at all when I got here,” said Rosemarie Lloyd, a Scatchet Head resident.

Minor flooding was also reported at Freeland Park.

Several roads on the South End were also temporarily blocked by fallen trees.