Flood waters rush in Duvall after beaver dam break
»Play Video
DUVALL, Wash. -- A Duvall home was damaged by a surprise river of water after a beaver dam naturally broke late Monday morning and unleashed a 3-acre pond.
Aerial videos showed running water rushing through the home in the area just north of where SR-203 meets NE and 124th Street.
"A 2-foot wall of water with debris in it," said homeowner Bob Siko. "Could have swept my children away."
Siko says he's grateful he, his wife and four boys were not home when the torrent of mud, water and wood came crashing through his property.
"(The water) was 4-5 feet high when it came down," Siko said. "And it definitely could have took my family." The water also flooded a pasture which is used for a local Christmas tree lot.
Siko said the flood should have never happened. He claims he contacted the county last spring expressing concerns about the beaver dam and the huge lake that formed behind it after smaller breaches sent water across his land.
Siko says a county worker came out, inspected the dam, and said he would pass along his report to the Army Corps of Engineers.
"If the county told me it's far too big to be safe seems like maybe the Army Corps of Engineers should have come out and taken a look at that and verified that," Siko said.
A spokesperson for King County Emergency Management says she trying to find out which county department, if any, responded to Siko's complaint.
"They take this very seriously there are people who monitor those for the county," said Lynn Miller. "This one wasn't on the radar it didn't have a level of threat, as I understand it."
Siko says he wants answers eventually, but for now, just wanted to clean up and express gratitude to those helping with the clean up.
"I had friends beat me out here," he said. "By the time I got home, I had people standing here, 'What do you need?' "
Some roads in the area were covered in water after after the dam broke just after 11 a.m. But road crews were able to reopen the roads just before 2:30 p.m.
Aerial videos showed running water rushing through the home in the area just north of where SR-203 meets NE and 124th Street.
"A 2-foot wall of water with debris in it," said homeowner Bob Siko. "Could have swept my children away."
Siko says he's grateful he, his wife and four boys were not home when the torrent of mud, water and wood came crashing through his property.
"(The water) was 4-5 feet high when it came down," Siko said. "And it definitely could have took my family." The water also flooded a pasture which is used for a local Christmas tree lot.
Siko said the flood should have never happened. He claims he contacted the county last spring expressing concerns about the beaver dam and the huge lake that formed behind it after smaller breaches sent water across his land.
Siko says a county worker came out, inspected the dam, and said he would pass along his report to the Army Corps of Engineers.
"If the county told me it's far too big to be safe seems like maybe the Army Corps of Engineers should have come out and taken a look at that and verified that," Siko said.
A spokesperson for King County Emergency Management says she trying to find out which county department, if any, responded to Siko's complaint.
"They take this very seriously there are people who monitor those for the county," said Lynn Miller. "This one wasn't on the radar it didn't have a level of threat, as I understand it."
Siko says he wants answers eventually, but for now, just wanted to clean up and express gratitude to those helping with the clean up.
"I had friends beat me out here," he said. "By the time I got home, I had people standing here, 'What do you need?' "
Some roads in the area were covered in water after after the dam broke just after 11 a.m. But road crews were able to reopen the roads just before 2:30 p.m.
These homes, no matter how long ago they were built, were built in or very near a drainage way. If you live in a low area it is only a matter time before your home is flooded.
Mmmm beaver,
Ahhhh...Army Corps of Engineers...so reliable.
State records have been found that show the designer made a few mistakes. There were cracks and leaks in the walls right after the dam was built.
Where is this engineer today? He works for WADOT and just completed the design for the 520 bridge pontoons.
That poor beaver. He's gonna get sued. Are there no social or public assistance programs for the beaver to help him rebuild? What a grave loss. What about counseling? Does he have inurance? Is he required to? Can he even get insurance? Did DNR inspect the dam? What about the Corps of Engineers? Will he be provided a translator at public expense? He needs an advocate!
 @bagsofdirt I like the idea of becoming a Beaver Lawyer and I am studying the Beaver Language using Rosetta Stone.
No, it is not the beavers fault, but perhaps you should educate yourself about the homeowners who live up on that hill - many built homes up there 60-80 years ago, prior to the beaver dam that just broke. There are countless naturally occurring ponds in the area that supports all sorts of wild life and is an ecosystem  to many. It is unfortunate that the dam broke. I don't think it will become a plight for "save the beavers", but I do think its ignorant to blame the residents who live up there. My grandparents do not own the property that the dam was on, but their property butts up to it. It has grown larger over the years. My heart is heavy for the homeowners at the bottom of the hill and the Pickering farm. I am just happy nobody was injured and that there was no loss of life.
I hate to seem unsympathetic to the homeowner but - what i*i*d*i*o*t would biuld their house in the middle of a watercourse?
 @nutz2u Take a look at the Google maps satellite view of the home and it's relation to the beaver pond and then convince anyone that the home owners could have reasonable expected a two foot wall of water to come upon them through the woods behind their house.Â
I am 4th generation born and raised in Duvall along with the Pickerings family. I can tell you that the house has been there since the very early 1900's and has gone through many generations of the Pickering family. The woman who is raising her 4 small boys in that house was raised in it herself by her parent's. These are very good people, these are my friends and they have had a terrible thing happen to them, but thankfully their family is safe and our community is pulling through for them.  It is very sad to me that so many people feel the need to make such uneducated comments about where the house was built.
My mother just corrected me, she believes the house has been in that location since the late 1800's.Â
 @SMDuvall Jumping to conclusions is all the exercise some of us get.
 @nutz2u That house is almost 100 years old and it was not built in the middle of a water course. The pond that was up the hill just happened to have the dam break. There has never been a situation like this on that property before. The beaver dam on the pond is more than a mile away up the hill in the middle of a forest.
I'll bet the stupid beaver wasn't licensed or bonded either. Probably didn't have a permit to build a dam.
 @I Like Meat Nor was an inspection done. far too many code violations. Put the beaver in jail or on the street.
It's not the beavers fault...Their doing what they do. Nothing was ever a problem till greedy people moved their homes in2 the beavers territory. Common sense people SEEK HIGHER TERRITORY!!!LMFAO
 @Wupsh ignorant comment. Please see the comments above where people who actually live in the area explain that the home in the article has been there over 100 years and the beaver dam is a mile or so away from it.
dam beavers.Â
Great. Here come the "get rid of the beavers" crap. Don't buy a home next to a creek and have piece of mind.
I remember several years ago there was a beaver dam that was blocking an endangered salmon run. We have one group of people saying "Save the endangered salmon! tear down the beaver dam!" Mean while you had another crying "save the beavers!" All the while, eagles and bears came along and had an all you can eat buffet of salmon.Â
Â
It's nature functioning like nature, with or without so called climate change.Â
 @John Gault I'm pretty sure this had nothing to do with climate change.
 @Hountoof  @John Gault Me too, though I actually do believe in it and don't disbelieve the larger comment he or she wrote. Beavers do what beavers do, and climate change does not have any affect on that.
Â
Â
Yikes!
the beavers were here first
 @2dogsbarking The only place humans got to first was the moon.
 @crowcaller Very good point.
Of course, all the climate change deniers will just find some excuse for this along with all the other extreme conditions we continually experience in weather... wake up people... it is only going to get worse if we fail to bring down carbon emissions.
 @ytboarder You're doing this wrong. Climate change is an issue we all need to face. It did not have anything to do with the beaver dam breaking.
 @ytboarder I'm not a "climate change denier" but I don't think this is anything out of the ordinary. Beaver dams break all the time, especially in the fall when rivers begin their natural process of flooding.
@ytboarder I had no idea that beavers were closet environmentalists. You do realize that the construction and subsequent destruction of this "beaver dam", otherwise known as a "lodge" has NOTHING to do w/ climate change, right? Oh, wait...I guess not.
 @takncarabizniz "You do realize that" the Puget Sound area is only capable of supporting beavers because of the warming climate change that melted the ice sheet from the last ice age so climate change has everything to do with the beavers being here to build their dam and lodge.
If those humans would have cut there carbon emissions in the last ice age we would not have had all these problems. Get a life the planet is going to go through changes without us. We don't have that much to do about it. Oh thats right humans we not around during the last ice age.
 @two loons  @takncarabizniz Yes, the beavers moved in to the Puget Sound area due to global warming.  The global warming that occurred causing the ice sheet to retreat from the area after the last ice age.  Only after that did the area assume characteristics suitable to beaver habitation.
Â
That the Earth's climate is changing is an indisputable fact.  (It always has been and always will be)  That man has an impact on that change is also an indisputable fact.  The degree to which man has effected that change is the only thing in question.Â
 @My_Thoughts  @takncarabizniz Are you saying that beavers moved into our area due to global warming? I'd like to know more about this. When did they arrive? I do not currently see a connection between climate change (which I do not deny) and this incident.
 @ytboarder climate change has nothing to do with beavers.
 @beetle73  @ytboarderÂ
Exactly. Climate change has nothing to do with beavers. Over-protective sue-happy environmentalists  are the cause for this. Home owner should have killed the beavers drained the dam himself. If there was an article about tearing down a beaver dam, you bet the "save the beavers" folks would be out in force.Â
 @John Gault  @beetle73  @ytboarder Of course climate change has an effect on beaver habitats.
You think there were beavers here when "During the last ice age (Pleistocene), an ice sheet nearly a mile thick covered much of Puget Sound"?
http://glaciers.research.pdx.edu/glaciers-washington
Â
The current climate change had very little to do with this incident but your statements are incorrect.
Wow...who'da thunk it, that a beaver dam could hold back that much water and moreover that no one seemed too concerned about it all this time while the "pond" behind it grew and grew and grew and grew...hmmmmmmmm
I've seen entire pastures taken over by a buildup of lodges along what would otherwise be innocuous little streams. By the time the beavers are done, they've created not just ponds, but sustainable lakes that are difficult to drain and reestablish for pasture land. We have a rather prolific mountain beaver population here and they are as invasive as Nutria. I would hope that Fish and Game has some input as to how to better prevent these lodge buildups that have the potential for such destruction.
@takncarabizniz The county doesn't allow homeowners to dismantle any dams that these critters might start to build. Even if in the building it causes damage to your property, we all just quietly remove them.
 @takncarabizniz That one's just a teacup.
"world's biggest beaver dam, which at 2790ft is more than twice the length of the Hoover dam"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/7676300/Worlds-biggest-beaver-dam-can-be-seen-from-space.html
Hope the people in Fed Way are reading this. Â Maybe they will not gripe about the beavers being removed.
so, this is a prime example what will happen if you do not control the beaver population.
 @beetle73 Could be equally said, this is a prime example of what happens when you do not control the human population.
Not one ounce of concern for the now homeless family of beavers.Â
 @ErichBritton I am sure they have already started re-building.Â
Sad...This just gnaws on you....
 @sokala groan!
Damn...
Interesting. Not one comment asked about the safety and welfare of the people in the flooded house. Commentary on the times we live in apparently...
 @JGDuvall You came here looking for that? Most good thoughts and deeds go unpublicized, and if not, they'll get picked apart in a place like this.
I was quite moved by the homeowners statement that his friends were there before he got home and they were ready to help. I know exactly how that feels. The salmon stream adjacent to my home floods every year. If the culverts are clear, it just floods the street. If they're blocked, I have water in my garage and threatening to come in the house. During the worst flood, I had friends canoeing through my yard to bring sand bags to my door. My husband was out there with them in his hip waders.They stayed all day and all night. They rigged up garden hoes duct taped to pvc and canoed the whole area, attempting to unblock culverts. They were there until midnight at least. I was handing mugs of clam chowder out my living room window as each would wade up or float by. I never had to call any of them. They were there.
@JGDuvall - Hate to be unsympathetic but wat rational person would build their house in a watercourse?
 @JGDuvall Well and hour before your comment is one by WABornandraised that said "Just glad no one was hurt!"
 @JGDuvall Interesting. Your comment didn't ask about the safety and welfare of the people in the flooded house either. Commentary on the times you live in, apparently.
@Jill Not really, I know them. My wife talked with her today.
Â
 @Berta PhillipsÂ
Â
Online donations can be made thru
 http://www.gofundme.com/1gw9r0
 @JGDuvall  @Jill So, do tell, how are the people impacted by this flood doing?  What assistance do they need?  Has the community set up anything to help them yet? Where can donations be sent?