The flooding of Everson, Washington

America’s towns are not ready for climate catastrophes. Here’s how one is hanging on.

Courtesy of Rich and Katie Turner

Courtesy of Rich and Katie Turner

By Evan Bush
Sept. 23, 2022

EVERSON, Wash. – As much as 5 feet of water rushed down Main Street here on the morning of Nov. 15. The currents, strong enough to push around a police Humvee, trapped people in their vehicles. Floodwaters submerged City Hall. Sewage spilled into homes from backed up wastewater pipes

Everson, in the northwest corner of the state, was mostly cut off from outside help, leaving locals at the helm in dozens of rescues, some using the buckets of tractors to pluck people from roaring floodwaters. One man died after his vehicle was washed off Main Street and into a nearby blueberry field. His faint shouts, reported to police from a nearby home, weren’t enough to locate him in the murky waters.

Two weeks later, another flood roared through. A pipe-bursting freeze and a blanket of snow followed, leaving some residents to boil drinking water, make emergency repairs and navigate insurance claims in the cold.  

A blueberry field in Everson, Wash., on May 20.

A blueberry field in Everson, Wash., on May 20. A dairy worker died in this field after his vehicle was swept away by floodwaters in November 2021. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

A car still stuck in the mud on May 6 after the fall 2021 flooding in Everson carried it into the field.

A car remained stuck in the mud May 6, several months after the flooding in Everson. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Several feet of sediment from the 2021 flooding settled in the once-green backyard of Cheryl and Larry Brown in Everson.

Several feet of sediment from the 2021 flooding settled in the once-green backyard of Cheryl and Larry Brown’s home in Nooksack Valley, Wash.  (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

A blueberry field in Everson, Wash., on May 20.

A blueberry field in Everson, Wash., on May 20. A dairy worker died in this field after his vehicle was swept away by floodwaters in November 2021. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

A car still stuck in the mud on May 6 after the fall 2021 flooding in Everson carried it into the field.

A car remained stuck in the mud May 6, several months after the flooding in Everson. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Several feet of sediment from the 2021 flooding settled in the once-green backyard of Cheryl and Larry Brown in Everson.

Several feet of sediment from the 2021 flooding settled in the once-green backyard of Cheryl and Larry Brown’s home in Nooksack Valley, Wash.  (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

“Our family has been here 95 years and gone through a lot of floods,” said Jim Glass, a retired Everson city worker. “It’s just been getting worse.” 

Flooding has vexed Everson for more than a century, but climate change and years of inaction have raised the stakes, threatening to wash parts of the community away and leaving some residents wondering if they can live here in the long term. 

That makes Everson part of a slow-churning crisis playing out in eastern Kentucky, the suburbs of St. Louis and other towns across America. Historic rainfall – associated with climate change – is causing a dramatic rise in flooding and pushing communities to the brink. 

In Everson, record-breaking rainfall and soaring temperatures that melted alpine snow combined to send the Nooksack River over its banks and into the town’s center. Canadian researchers estimated that the probability of such powerful streamflows across the region – in Washington and British Columbia – was 120% to 330% more likely because of climate change. In the future, the researchers expect more damaging floods. 

A knot of problems now face Everson’s leaders, including a lack of housing, squabbles over river dredging and rising risks from climate change. NBC News spoke with about two dozen residents of Everson and nearby communities, including many who questioned whether the town could withstand future floods and were demanding that the government take measures to reduce risk and impacts.

So far, local officials don’t have answers. Nor do state or federal officials. All have a hand in how the river – and flood risk – are managed. In recent decades and despite a bevy of studies, officials have taken few tangible steps to protect Everson and the surrounding communities, with efforts slowed by bureaucracy, a lack of funding and competing priorities. 

International leaders are also desperate to find solutions. The floodwaters that cascaded through Everson later contributed to hundreds of millions of dollars in insured damages in nearby British Columbia

Reene Cabrera stands in front of the truck he used to evacuate his family after their home flooded. For months, the family rented a cabin about 45 minutes away from Everson, commuting daily so their children could continue to attend Everson schools.

Reene Cabrera stands in front of a truck he used to evacuate his family after their home flooded. For months, they rented a cabin about 45 minutes away from Everson, commuting daily so their children could continue to attend Everson schools. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Reene Cabrera stands in front of a truck he used to evacuate his family after their home flooded. For months, they rented a cabin about 45 minutes away from Everson, commuting daily so their children could continue to attend Everson schools. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Reene Cabrera purchased a home in Everson in September 2021 — only for it to be inundated nearly two months later.

After the flooding, “we didn’t know what we were going to do – if it was safe to rebuild, if it was safe to come back home, if it was better to just walk away,” Cabrera said, standing in the backyard of his now-empty home, where hedges yellowed at the floodline and a bicycle remained, unused for months.

“If nothing is done in regards to the river, we’re probably sitting ducks again.” 

‘Everyone was taken off guard’

Before dawn on Nov. 15, Mike Brevik sat inside the cab of his bucket loader tractor, pointing his headlights into the inky floodwaters. Tearing up, he texted his children and then called his wife – afraid.

“I love you,” she said. “Come home for dinner tonight.”

Everson, a town of about 3,000, has only five public works employees. Brevik, a private construction contractor, occasionally helps with its roads or parks. That morning, at 4 a.m., Brevik rushed over to the Everson Fire Station, where he met John Perry, Everson’s mayor, and other public safety leaders, hoping to lend a hand. 

“I get to the fire station and they’re like, ‘What do we do? The county’s not coming, the state’s not coming,’” Brevik would recount later. “Everybody was taken off guard.” 

Everson Mayor John Perry stands in front of sandbags that still line a road from the 2021 flooding. Mike Brevik, a contractor, used his tractor to rescue residents from floodwaters.

Everson Mayor John Perry stands in front of sandbags that lined the roadway for months after the 2021 flooding. Mike Brevik, a local contractor, used his front-end loader to rescue dozens of residents from the floodwaters. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Everson Mayor John Perry stands in front of sandbags that lined the roadway for months after the 2021 flooding. Mike Brevik, a local contractor, used his front-end loader to rescue dozens of residents from the floodwaters. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

County officials the night before said in a news release that they expected flooding as significant as the region experienced in early February 2020 (known as “the Super Bowl flood”), when a few dozen Everson homes were damaged.

This was so much worse. 

Climate change has intensified flooding risks across the U.S., and scientists have linked its influence to the storm patterns that devastated Everson. 

The atmospheric river storms that produced historic rainfall near Everson caused landslides and flooding in other areas of Washington state and in British Columbia. These storms are often called “Pineapple Expresses” in the Northwest because they draw moisture and warmth from Pacific waters near Hawaii. On weather radar, they look like fire hoses.

Researchers would later evaluate three factors during the event — the atmospheric rivers, the amount of precipitation and the streamflow that resulted. The fingerprint of climate change made each anomaly more likely, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Weather and Climate Extremes

Atmospheric rivers are plumes of concentrated moisture that flow through the sky.

Atmospheric rivers are plumes of concentrated moisture that flow through the sky. Last November, several atmospheric rivers that originated near Hawaii brought drenching rain to northwest Washington and caused widespread flooding and landslides. Scientists later determined that the probability of receiving such a strong atmospheric river had increased by at least 60% because of climate change. (CIMSS)

Atmospheric rivers are plumes of concentrated moisture that flow through the sky. Last November, several atmospheric rivers that originated near Hawaii brought drenching rain to northwest Washington and caused widespread flooding and landslides. Scientists later determined that the probability of receiving such a strong atmospheric river had increased by at least 60% because of climate change. (CIMSS)

And Everson received a direct hit. 

In some parts of town, the water was high enough to overtop the 4-foot tires on Brevik’s front-end tractor. Swift currents and whitecapped waves made driving even the heavy machinery frightening. 

Winds lashed the rain sideways across the cab. At about 5 a.m., Brevik drove into some of the highest waters, navigating the front-end loader on Main Street, Everson’s primary commercial strip, which features a pie shop, a schnitzel restaurant and small grocery store. 

Local contractor Mike Brevik rescued some 40 people from the floodwaters. “We just went and did it. I thank God it worked out the way it did for me. Everybody was so helpless and I just felt for them,” he said. (Mike Brevik)

Local contractor Mike Brevik rescued some 40 people from the floodwaters. “We just went and did it. I thank God it worked out the way it did for me. Everybody was so helpless and I just felt for them,” he said. (Mike Brevik)

A green minivan bobbed in the current — like a “balloon on wheels.” Its submerged headlights formed a semicircle glow in the murky water. 

Brevik navigated the machine beside the van, reached down and helped pull its door open. He guided the man inside into the front-loader’s bucket and then drove to higher ground. 

It was the first of about 40 rescues. With the bucket of his machine, Brevik plucked a young man shaking on the roof of his pickup as waves pounded the vehicle, scooped up about a dozen people from the second-story window of a flooded home, and discovered a postal worker shivering for hours inside his tipped truck.

Between coordinating calls, the mayor or fire chief joined in to help with rescues. In 36 hours, the Everson police department responded to 64 calls for rescues, welfare checks or to deal with other flooding hazards, according to city records. 

The floodwaters ultimately seeped into about one-third of Everson’s housing, forcing some 300 families from their homes. 

Insufficient steps

A little more than a week after the worst of the flooding, with two-story mountains of flood debris still piled up in Everson, local officials held a community meeting at Nooksack Valley High School to discuss the flood recovery. 

Residents of Everson and nearby towns let officials have it. 

“I’m getting so irritated standing back there — I’ve been working with families in the last week and a half — with families who have been decimated,” said Ashley Butenschoen, a firebrand in local conservative politics who would later become the vice president of a flood recovery nonprofit.

Everson, which lies just west of the Cascade mountain foothills, has been flooding for more than a century. More than a dozen damaging floods have been recorded since homesteaders settled the town in the 1850s. A photograph, likely taken in 1909, shows a man riding a horse on city streets with water rising to the animal’s belly. In 1990, the Veteran’s Day flood caused more than $21 million in damage in Everson and surrounding areas.

Flooding in Everson, Wash., circa 1909.

Flooding in Everson, Wash., circa 1909. Flooding has always been a part of life here, but the problem has grown more challenging with more development in the flood plain and environmental changes. “Climate change is not going to help us at all on this,” Mayor John Perry said. “It highlights the need for broader solutions.” (Whatcom Museum)

Flooding in Everson, Wash., circa 1909. Flooding has always been a part of life here, but the problem has grown more challenging with more development in the flood plain and environmental changes. “Climate change is not going to help us at all on this,” Mayor John Perry said. “It highlights the need for broader solutions.” (Whatcom Museum)

In 1990, the Veteran’s Day flood caused more than $21 million in damage in Everson and surrounding areas. That deluge sent town officials scrambling for solutions. 

“I remember going to a meeting after the ‘90 floods. People were up in arms,” Glass, the former city worker, said. He recalled running around town documenting watermarks to prepare for the next big flood. 

But the process of preparing for floods and the recovery that follows, involves more than a dozen government agencies and stakeholders, and can sometimes get bogged down by bureaucracy, waning public interest and lack of funding. 

Meanwhile, flooding risks in Everson and many American communities have only increased.  While triggers vary locally, an atmosphere warmed by greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels can absorb more moisture and deliver heavier rainfall.

In the same week this summer, eastern Kentucky and the St. Louis suburbs both had damaging flood events that could be expected once every 1,000 years.

The U.S. has seen a steadily rising trend in both the number of federal disasters declared each year and in the number of inflation-adjusted billion-dollar disasters of all types, according to federal data.

“Our entire system is not built for the conditions today. The law goes back to the 1970s. The data goes back to the 1970s,” said Melissa Roberts, the executive director of the American Flood Coalition, a nonpartisan nonprofit group. 

Sandbags from the 2021 flooding can still be found lining Emerson Road, left, and in a backyard.

Sandbags from the 2021 flooding can still be found lining Emerson Road, left, and in a backyard. The flooding pulled Everson together. The first week after the damaging floods, some 600 volunteers came to Everson to help with cleanup. “We saw the community pull together -- like nothing people have seen before -- as far as the amount of help that was offered and the things donated,” the town’s Mayor John Perry said. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Sandbags from the 2021 flooding can still be found lining Emerson Road, left, and in a backyard. The flooding pulled Everson together. The first week after the damaging floods, some 600 volunteers came to Everson to help with cleanup. “We saw the community pull together -- like nothing people have seen before -- as far as the amount of help that was offered and the things donated,” the town’s Mayor John Perry said. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

After the flooding in 1990, Everson’s mayor at the time pushed through a levee extension project, hoping to protect the town. An international commission was appointed to address flooding in the U.S. and Canada. Local officials formed working groups and created comprehensive plans. Everson City Council minutes show town leaders contemplating whether to move facilities to higher ground. But over time, public attention fizzled.  

At the flood meeting in late November, with damage still fresh, officials faced a charged audience. Residents acknowledged that something had changed and that the floods were different now, though few viewed climate change as the primary cause. 

Speaker after speaker sidled up to the microphone demanding action. Gravel mining on the Nooksack River, which ended in 1997, became a flashpoint. 

The Nooksack carries more sediment than any river in Washington state. Sometimes that gravel fills the river bed, takes up space and leaves less room for floodwaters. That dynamic causes the river bed to shapeshift and makes predicting how much flooding to expect difficult, according to Paula Harris, flood manager for Whatcom County. The process is part of the reason local officials were caught off guard. 

In the auditorium, Butenschoen directed questions toward two lawmakers on stage, both Democrats. 

“What are you going to do to cut through the red tape? What are you going to do to jump the administrative hurdles to dredge the river?” Butenschoen said. “Stop screaming ‘climate change’ when we haven't dredged the river.”

Brevik, the contractor, threatened to dig the river out himself if officials wouldn’t take action. 

Sovereign tribal nations are among the groups that have opposed dredging in the Nooksack, in part because it could harm threatened species, like juvenile Chinook salmon, which the federal government has a trust obligation to protect and whose population is dwindling.  

Dredging is expensive, said Ned Currence, a fisheries and resource protection manager for the Nooksack Tribe, adding that he believes it is also impractical at a large scale and would do more harm than good.

“That’s treating your symptoms,” he said. A long-term solution, he said, would improve habitat and offer more permanent flood protection.

To Perry, Everson’s mayor, “climate change isn’t creating the sediment blockage we’re seeing in the river, but the frequency and intensity of the storms we're getting makes that situation even worse.”

Perry views dredging as unrealistic, but has grown frustrated that after months of meetings among flood stakeholders, he still can’t deliver to impatient residents a plate of straightforward solutions. 

Everson area residents in their own words

Everson police rescued Jennifer Cunningham and her family as floodwaters poured into her home. An officer drove the department’s Humvee at an angle against the floodwaters to avoid being pushed off the road, the report said. 

When the family finally returned to their home,“the refrigerator wasn’t even in the kitchen anymore,” Cunningham said. 

After seeing their home flood three times in less than two years, the Cunninghams decided to cut bait. They purchased a new home away from the floodplain in Everson and are hoping now that the city will come through with a FEMA-backed buyout. 

“Waiting on this buyout is really, really stressful,” Cunningham said.

Vianney Cruz in May received a notice she needed to vacate her place in the Everson Meadows apartment complex. 

“All of the neighbors are scared,” she said in Spanish to caseworkers with the Whatcom Long Term Recovery Group, an aid group canvassing the apartment complex.

The apartment complex, which serves as low income housing primarily for agricultural workers, will be shuttered during the fall in the wake of the floods.

The Bellingham and Whatcom County Housing Authority, which operates the complex, said it couldn’t justify renovating the apartments, in part, because of climate change and flood risk.

It said it would assist Everson Meadows residents in finding hew housing before the complex is shuttered Oct. 31. 


Julieta Garcia-Suarez’s home in Sumas, Wash., purchased in July 2021, was flooded with 6 feet of water a few months later. She said she was left with three main options – demolish the home, seek a potential buyout or raise the home. 

“Every single day since Nov. 15, I’ve had to do some type of paperwork,” she said in May. “It’s almost like having a part-time job.” 

Garcia-Suarez decided to have a contractor raise the home’s lowest floor 10 feet in case of future flooding, a process that cost tens of thousands of dollars. As of September, she and her family are living with her parents. 

“My daughter, she wants to go home,” she said. “It’s been one of the hardest things for me – trying to get a little 8-year-old to understand.”

Salvador Martinez’s family fled their mobile home as floodwaters rushed through their neighborhood. 

A neighbor and friend, who was a dairy worker, died in the flooding 

“You lose material things, but it's the lives that are lost that are just really worrisome,” Martinez said in Spanish and through an interpreter. “The government has to take action to fix this.”

Floodwaters from Swift Creek flowed into Cheryl and Larry Brown’s home in Nooksack, Wash., bringing sediment – including naturally-occurring asbestos – onto their property.

The Browns could no longer live inside the home because of mold and asbestos. As of September, the Browns lived in a trailer outside the home as they worked on repairs.

To clean their home and complete repairs, the Brown family must don Hazmat suits, rubber boots, and wear respirators.

Many American communities, including Everson, are struggling to catch up as climate change intensifies flood risk.

Federal rainfall mapping for Washington state, which underlies decisions about infrastructure and flood risk, dates to 1973. 

In Whatcom County, where Everson is, Federal Emergency Management Agency data suggests nearly 5,900 properties are in areas of special flood hazard, indicating they have a 1% chance to flood each year and that purchasing flood insurance is almost always mandatory, Roberts said. The First Street Foundation, which incorporates climate data into a similar analysis, finds some 14,500 properties are at risk there.  

“The hundred-year flood definition has not kept up with the changes we’re seeing, and at this point it’s doing more harm than good because it’s more confusing to people,” Roberts said, referring to a common benchmark used to determine who needs insurance.

Flooding and housing

Flooding spurred by a warming climate twisted Everson’s most urgent problem – housing – into an emergency. 

Before the flooding, Everson, like many U.S. communities, was mired in a housing crisis. The pandemic only added fuel to a sizzling market as urbanites sought homes near Everson – many looking for space and Cascade mountain air. 

Developers couldn’t keep up with the torrid growth. Some Everson residents couldn’t keep up with the soaring prices. The local housing authority in recent years restricted who could join its waitlists for public and subsidized housing because these queues stretched several years long.

Whatcom County had a 1 percent vacancy rate for rental apartments before the flood struck, according to the Washington Center for Real Estate Research. Meanwhile, home prices in the county soared about 23 percent from the first quarter of 2021 to the same period of 2022. Then the floodwaters forced 300 families from their homes and into that dismal rental market. It also led to the closure of low-income apartments in Everson, an acknowledgment that parts of this community couldn’t be restored, even though they’ve been there for decades. 

“The housing crisis — it just compounds any effects the flood had,” Perry said. “I don’t think we’ll ever catch up.”

For Perry, the part-time mayor of Everson, floodwaters scrambled most everything in his life. 

Perry’s grandson was trapped by floodwaters and required Brevik to scoop him up. Fourteen properties that Perry’s family manages in nearby Sumas flooded, forcing renters away and requiring repair. 

After the waters receded, Perry began to shoulder the dual, and sometimes dueling, responsibilities of housing Everson residents and leading the town’s recovery while also seeking permanent solutions to redirect future floodwaters or move people from their path. 

During an early May visit to Everson, many homes remained gutted, with sandbags and flood debris still littering some yards. Residents continued to live in hotels, in trailers outside their unlivable houses or with friends elsewhere. Some teetered on the edge of homelessness. 

The flood-damaged home of Dexter and Jennifer Cunningham and sediment settled in the once-green backyard of Cheryl and Larry Brown. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Jennifer and Dexter Cunningham remodeled their home after flooding in 2020 that became known as the Super Bowl floods. In 2021, floods ruined their home again, leaving mud splashed as high as the windows. Since, they’ve purchased a new home in Everson on higher ground. “Our whole life revolves around our community in Everson,” Jennifer Cunningham said. “We could move wherever in the world to another small town, but it’s not going to be home. You can’t re-create that elsewhere.” (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Jennifer and Dexter Cunningham remodeled their home after flooding in 2020 that became known as the Super Bowl floods. In 2021, floods ruined their home again, leaving mud splashed as high as the windows. Since, they’ve purchased a new home in Everson on higher ground. “Our whole life revolves around our community in Everson,” Jennifer Cunningham said. “We could move wherever in the world to another small town, but it’s not going to be home. You can’t re-create that elsewhere.” (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Some were waiting for funds from private insurance to rebuild. Others were waiting on contractors to elevate their homes or were weighing the possibility of buyouts.

Decisions over what should be rebuilt or torn down intensified the housing squeeze.

In early May, residents in a low-income housing unit called Everson Meadows received notices they needed to vacate within a month. The local housing authority planned to demolish the complex, which housed about 50 school-aged children. 

Flooding at Everson Meadows. (Katie Turner)

Floodwaters poured into the Everson Meadows apartment complex on the morning of Nov. 15. The 24-unit complex will be shuttered during the fall. (Courtesy of Rich and Katie Turner)

Floodwaters poured into the Everson Meadows apartment complex on the morning of Nov. 15. The 24-unit complex will be shuttered during the fall. (Courtesy of Rich and Katie Turner)

For many residents, moving was a daunting prospect. 

“Even after what’s occurred, we have to leave?” said Juan Gonzalez Lara, a 63-year-old Everson Meadows resident. 

Gonzalez Lara had fled his apartment just after 3 a.m. on Nov. 15 when floodwaters reached his knees. He returned a day later and found his bed, clothing and TV ruined and his floors coated in mud. That day, a wave of dizziness overwhelmed him and his daughter rushed him to the hospital, where he received a heart surgery he attributes now to flooding’s stress.

Now, back in his once-flooded apartment and recovering, he faced displacement – again. 

“Without work, without money — where are we going to go?” Gonzalez Lara said.

A heart pillow from one of Juan Gonzalez Lara’s hospital visits at his home in Everson Meadows. Lara said that after the flooding, he started experiencing heart pain from the trauma.

A heart pillow from one of Juan Gonzalez Lara’s hospital visits at his home in Everson Meadows. He lost all his possessions and when returning to his apartment, began to experience heart problems he believes were caused by the stress of the flooding. Every time it rains, “I have to look out the window to see if the water will come or not,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter. “I’ve been traumatized." (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

A heart pillow from one of Juan Gonzalez Lara’s hospital visits at his home in Everson Meadows. He lost all his possessions and when returning to his apartment, began to experience heart problems he believes were caused by the stress of the flooding. Every time it rains, “I have to look out the window to see if the water will come or not,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter. “I’ve been traumatized." (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

The notices to leave had gone out early by mistake, said Brien Thane, CEO of the local housing authority. The organization planned to help relocate Everson Meadows residents by October 31. Thane said the organization couldn’t justify renovating the 24-unit building, which had structural and mold concerns even before the flood. The housing authority hopes to build elsewhere, on higher ground. 

After flooding, low-income housing is often among the last to return, if it does at all, said Roberts, the flood coalition director.

“Anytime you’re taking housing stock out of commission, we know it increases price pressure, and we know affordable housing is often in the floodplain,” Roberts said. “After natural disasters, affordable housing is less likely to be rebuilt.” 

For Perry and Everson, the closure was devastating.

“We don't have 24 available rental units in the area,” Perry said. “They're part of the community, and we don't want to lose that.”

Meantime, despite the desperate need of housing stock, Perry found himself asking residents to vacate their homes for good.

The City of Everson, and Whatcom County, in February sent more than a dozen letters gauging the interest of property owners in flood-prone areas in a potential buyout program. Nearby Sumas contacted 550 property owners. 

Claudia Vizcarra, left, and other representatives of the Whatcom Long Term Recovery Group visits with residents of Everson Meadows on May 5.

Claudia Vizcarra, left, and other representatives of the Whatcom Long Term Recovery Group visit Everson Meadows residents on May 5. The aid group formed in the wake of the flooding to help fulfill unmet needs. Housing remains a struggle. “What do you do when there’s a natural disaster in the middle of a housing crisis? That’s been the million-dollar question,” said Lacey De Lange, a case manager with the group. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Claudia Vizcarra, left, and other representatives of the Whatcom Long Term Recovery Group visit Everson Meadows residents on May 5. The aid group formed in the wake of the flooding to help fulfill unmet needs. Housing remains a struggle. “What do you do when there’s a natural disaster in the middle of a housing crisis? That’s been the million-dollar question,” said Lacey De Lange, a case manager with the group. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

The county is seeking federal grant money in hopes it could move some residents away from the floodway or floodplain.

Property buyout projects often take more than five years to complete, Roberts said. Acquisition funding is typically approved within two years.

Tony Chunkapura’s four-bedroom home remained empty and gutted in September with a four-foot “flood cut” of drywall exposing its studs. 

Chunkapura hopes to receive a buyout backed if the city can secure federal grants, but is leery of the lengthy process and concerned rising housing values will price him out of his community. 

Chunkapura, who is living in a rented room in nearby Bellingham, considered buying a motorhome or RV for housing during the buyout process, but struggled to find somewhere to park it. 

“One location had a list of 60 people in the waiting line,” Chunkapura said. 

Tony Chunkapura's home had to gutted after the flooding. He shows how high the floodwaters rose at lower right.

“There are still many of us who aren’t in their homes,” said Tony Chunkapura, who left his four-bedroom home at about 3 a.m. Nov. 15. He dodged a floating log in the road as he fled his home. He shows how high floodwaters rose in his home at lower right. Chunkapura can’t rebuild or raise his home because of the extent of damage and city code restrictions on rebuilding in a floodway. He hopes to participate in a buyout program the city of Everson is pursuing, but is concerned about the timeline and that he’ll be priced out of the community. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

“There are still many of us who aren’t in their homes,” said Tony Chunkapura, who left his four-bedroom home at about 3 a.m. Nov. 15. He dodged a floating log in the road as he fled his home. He shows how high floodwaters rose in his home at lower right. Chunkapura can’t rebuild or raise his home because of the extent of damage and city code restrictions on rebuilding in a floodway. He hopes to participate in a buyout program the city of Everson is pursuing, but is concerned about the timeline and that he’ll be priced out of the community. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

Tapping out

Everson suffered death and devastation. For many families, recovery has not been smooth. Global warming, and flooding, dim the town’s long-term prospects. 

Still, it’s in a better position than many communities after disaster strikes. Some wait years for federal disaster funds, Roberts said. Everson has received substantial disaster relief already. Many communities lack the wherewithal to seek grants for buyouts, Roberts said. 

“This process is not possible to navigate for many communities, and a lot of them just end up tapping out,” she said.

Most Everson families are back in their homes. Meanwhile, about one-third of Sumas remains unoccupied to this day.

The Nooksack River.

The Nooksack River flows from Mount Baker, a volcano in western Washington. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

The Nooksack River.

The amount of sediment in the river changes regularly, making flood prediction difficult. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

The Nooksack River.

(Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

The Nooksack River.

The Nooksack River flows from Mount Baker, a volcano in western Washington. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

The Nooksack River.

The amount of sediment in the river changes regularly, making flood prediction difficult. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

The Nooksack River.

(Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)

In Everson, hope remains. 

Perry, Currence and Harris are among the local leaders evaluating targeted buyouts, constructing dikes around affected towns and other options that could reduce risks. With enough funding, they think they can protect people without compromising the environment.  

Officials this fall plan to excavate and reopen a side channel near Everson as a first step. The project could develop new salmon habitat and make a “modest” increase in how much water can flow without overtopping the river bank. 

“It’s something. It’s not nearly enough,” Perry said.  

Some residents are keeping faith. 

“We felt confident to rebuild and come back home and just hope that we have some help from the government to be able to fix the river,” Cabrera said. “That’s the gamble we are taking."

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