Landslide damages road, could strand dozens of homeowners near Duvall

DUVALL, Wash. -- Dozens of people in eastern King County are keeping a close eye on a landslide that could take out the only road into their neighborhood.

The recent heavy rains took out one lane of NE 124th Street just south of Duvall.

King County road crews are trying to keep runoff from flowing underneath the street. Friday’s dry weather helped but more rain in the forecast could mean big trouble for nearly 60 homeowners in the area.

“I don’t want to get my car stuck up there,” said Karlee George, who added that her parents live in the impacted neighborhood. “I’ve got to go to work on Monday."



George worries her parents could end up being stranded if the only public road into their neighborhood collapses.

“The earth is just sliding out from under us just because of all the extra water,” said King County Road Services maintenance manager Jeremy Ferguson.

The runoff water is now diverted along the road, but on Thursday the water flowed directly under the pavement and caused the hill to slide and half the road to collapse. Only one lane remains open for dozens of homeowners.

“Right now we’re monitoring, we’re clearing out some vegetation to try to understand how the water has shifted,” said Ferguson.

King County alerted dozens of homeowners by reverse 911 calls Thursday night, warning people to prepare to shelter in place if the road fails, adding emergency services may not be able to respond in the event of a catastrophic slide.

“We’re pretty independent and self-sufficient up here,” said neighbor Lis Brouwer. “But it is disconcerting to have this road being the only way out of our neighborhood.”

Brouwer and many of her neighbors parked their cars at the bottom of the hill just in case.

“We have a couple neighbors parked in the barnyard,” said neighbor Bob Siko.

Siko’s home is at the bottom of the slide, but, thanks to high runoff, his home now looks like lakefront property. He worries more rain could strand his neighbors, and send floodwaters even higher.

“Some of these people live 2-3 miles up the hill,” he said. “For them it would be a sizable walk.”

Road crews told Q13 News they planned to continue monitoring the situation day and night through the holiday weekend.