Extreme rains Sept. 3 gushed down sidewalks in downtown Friday Harbor, keeping patrons inside and flooding businesses on Spring Street and First Street including Black Fish, the Bean Cafe, Pelindaba Lavender, Arctic Raven Gallery, King’s Market, stores in Surina Business Park off Malcolm Street and more.
“In all my fifteen years here, I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Richard Babbitt, who was in Rocky Bay Cafe when the flooding started. “Everybody was glued to the window, watching.”
The rain culminated in a rushing torrent of rain down the sidewalks and pooling on First Street. Cars were up to their bumpers in water, and once the rain subsided people came out to try to help or watch.
Eye witness accounts say about five inches of rain water pooled in King’s Market, which had to close temporarily in order to remove the water. It reopened by early afternoon.
According to Town Administrator Duncan Wilson, blocked drains were not the culprit for the flooding.
“It had absolutely positively nothing to do with leave and needles on the drains,” Wilson said, “We hadn’t seen anything like this and the system just couldn’t handle the sheer volume.
Wilson explained that the 48 inch drainage pipe simply couldn’t contain all of the downpour, resulting in flooding.
“The entire line was charged,” Wilson said. “It was so strong and so powerful it blew a manhole off.”
City workers had to block off the manhole near the intersection on Argyle Street and Spring Street with a truck so that well-meaning helpers wading into the calf-high water wouldn’t fall in on accident.
Business owners used sandbags and towels to keep the water at bay, one used tables as a barricade to try and stop the flow from getting into his store.
Some were barefoot, trying to sweep the sidewalks of detritus after the water drained out of the storefronts and off the sidewalks.
Have a flood photo or video? Email it to us at asmith@sanjuanjournal.com. We will post a compilation of photos on our website. For a photo slideshow of the flooding visit www.sanjuanjournal.com
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article attributed the flooding to blocked drainage pipes from initial reports. After interviewing Town Administrator Duncan Wilson he stated that was not the case.
