Thieves steal 20-foot metal pipe used to gauge flood levels
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NEAR ELMA, Wash. -- Wire thieves are at it again and this time, the thefts could affect homeowners and flood warning systems.
In Grays Harbor county, it sometimes seems that any piece of metal that isn't bolted down is fair game for thieves.
"We've had everything from guard rails dismantled to the bleachers at sporting events dismantled. And a lot of times, the thefts are an inconvenience or an embarrassment," said Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott.
But now thieves are taking metal along the Chehalis River, more specifically metal pipes 20 feet long and 2 inches wide. Whoever took it had to go to a fishing area in the town of Porter. And into the water. To grab a couple of dollars worth of pipe.
"Going to a lot of work to take a small piece of metal pipe that affects us all," said Lt. David Porter of the emergency coordination team.
It affects them all, because that pipe had wires that carried water measurements to a transmitting station.
"All of those decisions that we make during a flood start with the information from those gauges upstream," said Scott.
You see, the sheriff can remember December 2007. The area floods. The Chehalis can becoming a raging nightmare. Upstream gauges can't stop a flood, but they can help save lives.
"We depend on that data to determine if there must be evacuations if people have to move to higher ground," said Scott.
This vandalism happened when the Chehalis River was low.The concern is it could happen again in December of January.
The prosecutor says judges are starting to get tough on wire theft. But for a first-time offender, the maximum is six months in the county jail. He says the penalty should be more severe when public safety is threatened.
In Grays Harbor county, it sometimes seems that any piece of metal that isn't bolted down is fair game for thieves.
"We've had everything from guard rails dismantled to the bleachers at sporting events dismantled. And a lot of times, the thefts are an inconvenience or an embarrassment," said Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott.
But now thieves are taking metal along the Chehalis River, more specifically metal pipes 20 feet long and 2 inches wide. Whoever took it had to go to a fishing area in the town of Porter. And into the water. To grab a couple of dollars worth of pipe.
"Going to a lot of work to take a small piece of metal pipe that affects us all," said Lt. David Porter of the emergency coordination team.
It affects them all, because that pipe had wires that carried water measurements to a transmitting station.
"All of those decisions that we make during a flood start with the information from those gauges upstream," said Scott.
You see, the sheriff can remember December 2007. The area floods. The Chehalis can becoming a raging nightmare. Upstream gauges can't stop a flood, but they can help save lives.
"We depend on that data to determine if there must be evacuations if people have to move to higher ground," said Scott.
This vandalism happened when the Chehalis River was low.The concern is it could happen again in December of January.
The prosecutor says judges are starting to get tough on wire theft. But for a first-time offender, the maximum is six months in the county jail. He says the penalty should be more severe when public safety is threatened.
"The concern is it could happen again in December of January."
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When is December of January?
 @Furd That must be when the water is low again?
Let's hope the scrappers don't play, and report these home chemistsÂ
I say a couple of weeks in the stocks would be appropriate. Â Everyone needs to know who these lowlifes are.
One has to wonder what other public safety systems aren't working now due to these low lifes. Maybe I should start checking bridges before I drive over them.