Sudden Valley is still recovering from an intense easterly windstorm that battered the Lake Whatcom community in November, dropping dozens of trees on roads and homes and prompting the county executive to pronounce the situation an ongoing emergency.
More than 40 structures were reported damaged in the storm and several households were displaced. The Sudden Valley Community Association estimates it will spend up to $500,000 on tree removal and debris cleanup. A veteran-led humanitarian aid organization was called in to support recovery efforts, and generous neighbors and community members have stepped up to help those impacted, such as Aaron Noice and his wife.
Arriving home late on Nov. 19, the Noices heard the “apocalyptic” sound of limbs cracking and trunks breaking all around their house in Gate 3. One tree had already fallen on their neighbor’s house and rolled into their garage, and only a minute after Noice’s wife had gone in the house, herded their four cats into the entryway and went back outside to talk to bystanders, a 150-foot-tall Douglas fir crashed diagonally into their tri-level house, splitting it down the middle. All four cats were unharmed.
“It was extremely intense and pretty traumatic overall,” Noice said, remembering the devastating event weeks later. While cleaning up his property on Dec. 8, he counted more than 100 rings in the huge tree’s trunk.
Caused by an offshore “bomb cyclone,” the easterly windstorm struck much of the Puget Sound era, killing two people and leaving more than half a million customers without power. No storm-related injuries or fatalities were reported in Whatcom County.
In Sudden Valley, the unusual wind direction stressed trees that are normally exposed to more southerly and westerly wind patterns. While evaluation to determine the extent of the damage isn’t complete, many homes in the forested upper neighborhoods were hit by falling trees, and some residents were forced to find shelter elsewhere because of the extent of the destruction.
Fortunately, Noice and his wife had a place to stay with family, because they were only able to secure a temporary rental in Ferndale on Dec. 9 after weeks spent weathering the challenging rental market.
“I’d heard horror stories but hadn’t experienced searching for a rental here until now,” Noice said. “It was pretty eye-opening.”
Noice is an insurance broker, which means he’s fluent in the process of filing claims and trying to recoup the losses his family has suffered. Rebuilding the house, which he and his wife bought in 2020, is estimated to take between a year and 18 months, although Noice has resigned himself to the longer timeline due to watershed restrictions, possible permitting delays and the age of the house.
Neighbors on all sides have lent a hand in any way possible.
“I’m grateful our neighbors are so great,” Noice said. “The community support we’ve received — it still gets me worked up.”
Some of that support came from Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian organization that helped with cleanup. Membership in Team Rubicon isn’t limited to veterans but the organization was founded to aid communities in need while offering veterans an opportunity to find the camaraderie and sense of service they may be missing as civilians.
Brian Clark, an Air Force veteran and the field operations coordinator for the Everett-Bellingham region, saw the troubling forecast before the windstorm and let the emergency managers of the five counties in his service area know they could ask Team Rubicon for aid in case of disaster.
On Nov. 20, Whatcom County Deputy Director of Emergency Management Matt Klein reached out for help. Clark organized a call to action on Team Rubicon’s internal site and 17 team members from around the state deployed to Sudden Valley over the weekend of Dec. 7-8. The volunteers, most of whom were sawyers, finished debris cleanup and tree removal at 12 homesites.
Clark said the response from Sudden Valley residents was “tremendous.”
“The homeowners were greatly appreciative — they thanked us multiple times, and when they learned no one would be getting a bill for our services, they asked where to send donations,” he said.
The Sudden Valley Community Association (SVCA) offered roadside debris pickup to residents with no size limit on tree diameter, to keep debris from blocking ditches and culverts or making snow plowing more dangerous.
SVCA contracted with Rawls Tree Service, which dedicated its entire 20-person crew and heavy equipment to pick up and dispose of all the debris brought to the roadside. In a report to the SVCA board of directors, general manager Jo Anne Jensen wrote that in five days of clearing, Rawls Tree Service generated 30 truckloads of wood chips or 448 cubic yards of material, which would cover an entire football field three inches deep.
Some of the wood has been sold to a lumber mill to recoup a small portion of the cost, but cleanup — including ongoing hazardous tree removal — could cost the homeowners association almost $500,000, according to Jensen’s report.
While significant, the amount of damage to Sudden Valley homes does not reach the threshold needed to access state or federal emergency funds, SVCA announced late in November.
“It may be weeks before we can determine the full impact in terms of dollars,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement on Nov. 21. “Once local governments are able to assess damages, we’ll know whether we will be able to seek federal assistance.”
On Dec. 6, Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu issued an emergency proclamation, based on a recommendation by Sheriff Donnell Tanksley, for the Sudden Valley disaster response. The proclamation serves to speed up county contracts that go toward disaster aid, and acknowledges possible future consequences such as increased wildfire fuel from all the downed trees and impacts to the watershed. It also positions the county to seek state or federal aid if it becomes available.
The county is working with the state Emergency Management Department, the Small Business Association and FEMA to build a case for support for those with unmet needs or uninsured losses.
This article was updated on Dec. 12 to include the latest information on the number of structures impacted and how the county is seeking aid.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
