Another Email From Dave Cameron

Thank you Dave for your input and the praise. It’s an email like this that encourages us to stay the course on IndexWa.org. (Ed)
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Ed,
Thank you for alerting Index folks to the incoming rain and high water on November 12. We came through the event without serious problems due to people being alert, taking action and being willing to help out others.
We also received assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, whose commanding colonel and his team arrived early to evaluate our problem areas and preparations then drop off two members to spend the day. He praised our work.
They came as a hemlock tree came out of the river to hit David Meier and Lynn Chamberlain’s Cabin on the Sky on 8th and Avenue A. Damage was limited to the front porch area, fortunately. Ernie Walker and Fire District 28 sawed up the trunk, while nearby sandbaggers and neighbors were there to help if needed. That was our only reported incident in town, although we also requested county public works assistance with a problem at MP 3 on the Index-Galena Road. Fixing that kept several families above from being cut off.
We had a large number of townsfolk volunteer to fill, deliver, and replace 2006 sandbags on the 800 block of Avenue A, then extend light coverage downstream on the 200 block at the suggestion of the Corps. A state reformatory crew arrived to finish that task, while the county Department of Emergency Management also brought us additional sand and bags.
The Index General Store provided lunches for everyone, while we also bought out their supply of gloves. A reminder: always have gloves and adequate rain gear when helping out. The gloves help protect from the grit of sand as well as chemicals in burlap bags.
An ongoing problem is with the river gauge sensors on our bridge and upstream at Galena. County Surface Water Management gauge experts were her last Friday and again Wednesday, trying to figure out how to eliminate the “bugs.” It may be that the Galena gauge is receiving data too rapidly and is overwhelmed, while ours may be placed over too wild a part of the channel to give accurate measurements. If you check the gauge readings on the internet keep that in mind, along with the fact that the new gauge here gives readings which indicate we are at a much higher flood level than we actually are. Let us know if you would like more information on that.
Thanks also to those who are willing to take a leadership role when we have emergencies, especially mayor Bruce Albert, emergency management head/councilman Sean “Rib” Horst, maintenance supervisor Bill Cross (who doubles on the fire department and was out checking conditions before 5 a.m.), and town clerk/treasurer Lisa Stowe in the town hall emergency operations center. It takes a team and strong participation from the rest of us in town.
David Cameron