Guest commentary-- Landslide stokes fire of community spirit

On Oct. 11, the Naches Valley landslide devastated our community. It cut off power to hundreds of local residents and businesses, rerouted the Naches River into neighborhoods, destroyed homes and forced evacuations. A quarter-mile wide, 80-acre mass of earth more than 200 feet deep gave way, slid into the river and destroyed a section of State Route 410. The slide rendered several homes uninhabitable. About 80 people were evacuated, and dozens of businesses were forced to close.

The Seattle Times predicted that State Route 410 would close for the winter. In the face of that challenge, our community could have descended into chaos, pointing the fingers of blame at each other and accomplishing nothing. Instead, residents of the Nile Valley supported each other and worked with federal, state and local government agencies in the spirit of cooperation.

My seat mates, Rep. Charles Ross and Rep. Norm Johnson, and I would like to show our appreciation to and admiration for the following people and agencies who led the effort.

Gov. Chris Gregoire declared an emergency immediately after the landslide, allowing the state to construct a temporary route around the slide and build a new channel for the Naches River. Yakima County Emergency Management, the Yakima County Sheriff's Office, Washington State Patrol, Yakima County Search and Rescue and local fire districts responded to assist residents and businesses.

To get a better understanding of the devastation, the governor later visited the site along with Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond, House Transportation Committee Chairwoman Judy Clibborn, and the ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee, Dan Swecker.

Washington State Department of Transportation employees, under the leadership of South-Central Regional Administrator Don Whitehouse, worked tirelessly with Selland Construction for many weeks to open a temporary road, construct a new section of SR 410 and reroute the river.

In order to construct the new road and river channel, Yakima Country Public Services, under the leadership of Director Vern Redifer, purchased more than 60 acres of property in a timely manner on behalf of the public. The Yakima County Flood Control District designed and provided daily oversight for a new river channel to redirect it away from homes and the toe of the landslide for protection of downstream infrastructure and businesses.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, under direction from Yakima County, assisted the Washington State Department of Transportation in constructing the new river channel. The U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Yakama Nation, and the state departments of Ecology, Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife all contributed their efforts and resources to the cleanup and recovery effort.

The individuals and the agencies mentioned above worked as a cohesive team with no thought toward credit or jurisdiction. As the result of such well-coordinated efforts among the agencies, road crews had constructed 4,000 feet of new pavement a little more than a month later, and by early December construction crews were gone.

Henry Ford once said, "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." The relentless effort and the steadfast dedication by these and other people to work together and overcome hardship is a great example of how much we can accomplish when we unite and strive forward.

The people of the Nile Valley have given us an example of how to respond to adversity. Our federal, state and county agencies have also shown us the way government can and should respond in a time of crisis to aid the people for whom they work.

Reps. Ross, Johnson and I want to say thank you for a job well done. There is no adversity we cannot overcome if we all work together.

* Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, represents the 14th Legislative District.