South Park begins recovery after Duwamish flood

Inches of water and debris still cover some streets and sidewalks in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood after the Duwamish River flooded Tuesday morning. Multiple families have been displaced while they try to clean and repair their water-damaged homes.

On Wednesday afternoon, Ky Bak and his wife were dragging bags of wet garbage out of their home on South Chicago Street. The floors of their house, where they’ve lived for about 10 years, were covered in soaked blankets from the Red Cross. The blankets squished with water when Bak walked on them.

"Two feet and a half go inside the house and all the food in refrigerator: all damaged,” Bak said, pointing into his kitchen.

The produce bins in their refrigerator sloshed with thick, brown water. Most of their wardrobe was ruined, too.

"A lot of stuff inside the house,” Bak said, “shoes and some clothes put in the drawer, all full of water, all damaged, everything."

On Tuesday morning, heavy rain and a king tide caused the nearby Duwamish River to spill its banks and pour into Bak’s and his neighbors' homes. Their neighborhood is home to many immigrant families surrounded by warehouses and shipyards.

At least 18 households were affected, according to Ingrid Goodwin, a spokesperson for Seattle Public Utilities. Many basements are still full of polluted water and need to be pumped.

"You just had families that lost everything,” said Maggie Angel from the Duwamish River Community Coalition. “They lost their home, they lost their gifts from Christmas, they lost that place where they they create so many memories that they called home."

The Coalition held a meeting Wednesday to coordinate recovery efforts including scheduling dump trucks, collecting donations, and opening a community space for families to get meals and toiletries.

“Eventually we’re going to do a door-knocking campaign where we’re going to ask neighbors what they need to recover from this flood,” Angel said.

Angel said the Coalition helped at least 10 families get into SeaTac and Tukwila hotels, including Bak and his wife. The nonprofit was able to pay for rooms through Friday. Goodwin said the city has paid for nine families to get into hotels through Jan. 4.

“Thereafter, the Red Cross will work with impacted residents to assess their housing needs and options longer-term,” Goodwin wrote in an email.

Goodwin said the city has partnered with local aid groups to help displaced families and damaged businesses.

Bak and his wife hope to be back in their home by Friday if they can dry their floors out, but they’re uncertain.

“It’ll take many days,” Bak said. "It’s just so, so bad.”