Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year in the Bavarian style tourist town of Leavenworth. Last week, debris and flooding from an atmospheric river knocked out power across the area for days; including half a million twinkling lights downtown.
Mayor Carl Florea said the town is still recovering from the storm. Luckily, he said, they avoided major damage from another flood watch and high winds on Wednesday. The mayor said the town is ready for visitors.
”There's just a lot of debris and downed trees and branches but the good news is the downtown core where the tourism and all the stores and lights are sustained very little damage. So it's back up and the lights are back on,” Florea said.
Rebeca Wadkins, owner of the Nussknacker Haus storefront in downtown Leavenworth, sits along a street where thousands of visitors walk by to window-shop and view the Christmas lights. When the power went out last week, she used flashlights to keep her shop open.
“ This is the time when we make the majority of our money so that we can pay the rest of our bills. The second weekend of December is typically the busiest weekend for us,” Wadkins said.
The winter season is when many people visit Leavenworth. Local businesses rely heavily on tourists for their income.
Jessica Stroller, the marketing and public relations director at the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce, said for many local businesses, the ripple effects are being felt even as operations return to normal.
In an emailed statement, Stroller said the chamber won’t know the extent of loss until the month ends.
Retailers missed critical holiday shopping days, restaurants faced food spoilage and temporary closures due to prolonged power outages, and lodging properties saw a high volume of cancellations during the peak Christmastown season,” Stroller wrote. “These impacts extend beyond businesses and directly affect the employees who live and work in our community.”
Water recedes by Lake Wenatchee, locals support each other
Water levels are receding around Lake Wenatchee, but emergency officials say damage assessments are still underway after days of heavy rain caused flooding in Chelan County.
Sergeant Jason Reinfeld at Chelan County Emergency Management said homes around the unincorporated community of Plain, near Lake Wenatchee were damaged by floodwaters.
Beyond property damage, access in and out of the area has also been limited.
“There are just a lot of houses spread out throughout the unincorporated county up there,” Reinfeld said. “With Highway 2 and Tumwater Canyon being closed, there’s only one route for that community to get down towards Wenatchee. It’s really impacted transportation.”
Displaced residents
Across Washington state, residents have been displaced as rivers and low-lying areas flooded. In the Cascade Mountains, some businesses have stepped in to help provide temporary shelter.
Squirrel Tree Resort sits between closures on U.S. Highway 2. There’s limited routes in and out of the area.
Vidor Fedor owns the resort. He wanted to do something after seeing the damage from the flood firsthand. He posted on Facebook offering free hotel rooms and RV parking to anyone displaced by the flooding.
“ I went over there where the homes were flooded and the RVs were flooded, I just posted it online: ‘Hey, free rooms and free RV sites.’ I've probably housed about 40 people so far,” Fedor said.
Fedor said he wanted people to have a safe place to stay while crews assess damage and conditions improve.
Highway 2 remains closed
In a press conference on Tuesday, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said U.S. Highway 2 would likely be closed for months as the Washington Department of Transportation repairs damage from the atmospheric river.
“We anticipate that Highway 2 will be closed for months,” Ferguson said. “We understand the implications to business and individuals and human lives on not having that highway available for an extended period of time. We're going to do everything we possibly can to repair it as quickly as possible.”
U.S. Highway 2 is closed between Skykomish and Leavenworth. Currently, US 97 and State Route 28 through Quincy are available for cross-state travel as alternative routes.
