Auburn mayor and council laud flood response, shelters and volunteers

Mayor Nancy Backus and members of the Auburn City Council used their Jan. 5 remarks to describe the city's response to recent December flooding, thank staff and volunteers who worked in the emergency operations center (EOC) and shelters, and outline coordination with regional partners.

Mayor Backus recounted that the EOC was staffed by employees from several departments and that emergency shelters were stood up in partnership with the Red Cross and local providers. "There were a lot of long days long nights but it was worth it to make sure that the people in the city of Auburn and people in Pacific and surrounding cities were also in a safe place," she said. The mayor singled out emergency manager Matthew Kolpitz and Director Krueger for their roles in operations and thanked Debbie Christian for opening local shelter space.

The mayor also described safety-driven road closures, explaining some roads were closed not merely because of visible water but because of concern that Army Corps releases could cause additional flooding or compromise road integrity. She noted the City of Pacific experienced substantial impacts—"I think there's at least 200 homes that were flooded in the Pacific area"—while Auburn had roughly 15 to 30 homes with damage; the mayor acknowledged those counts are approximate.

Council Member Raikes reported helping with donations and volunteer sorting for flood victims, and Council Member Baldwin publicly thanked all directors and staff for their emergency work. The council formally ratified Resolution 5883 at the meeting to confirm the mayor's Dec. 9 emergency proclamation.

Next steps noted at the meeting included continued coordination with King County flood-control leadership about projects to reduce future flooding risk and completing after-action work on sheltering and EOC procedures. No new funding amounts or project timelines were announced during the reports.