Soaking rain topples trees, triggers mudslides across Puget Sound area



BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. -- Mother Nature was causing a sloppy mess Thursday.

The nonstop rain caused a slide on Rockaway Beach Road in Bainbridge, in the same area that had a slide last month.

“It closed the road then for a little bit, too,” Bainbridge Island resident Andrea Bleecker said.

This time it’s a little worse.  The mud covering the road damaged a fire hydrant in the process.  Longtime residents recalled that about 20 years ago part of the same hill came down, within inches of a couple of homes below Rockaway Beach Road.

“The woman who lived there, poor soul, said she was standing in the kitchen and she saw it come down. It didn’t touch the house but almost, you know?” Bleecker said.

The city is keeping a close eye on nearly a dozen vulnerable spots for landslides in Bainbridge Island alone. As folks worried about loose soil in Bainbridge Island, others in Poulsbo are dealing with overflowing storm pipes.

The heavy rain caused a backed-up sewage pipe to spill onto Sol Vei Street off State Route 305.

The city of Poulsbo says the spill is not affecting any homes nearby but they will keep the road closed until the problem is fixed.

The rain also causing a stressful moment for one family in Lake Forest Park.

“It was 5 in the morning and the loud crashing sound just woke me up,” resident Patti Sindeler said.

A giant 70-foot tree fell across the road, crashing down on her car.

“They are clearing up the driveway; like I said, it’s just a car,” Sindeler said.

Although her car is totaled, she’s grateful no one was hurt.

Here were some other weather-related problems Thursday night: