(The Center Square) – The King County Council voted to extend an emergency proclamation amid severe flooding this month as the Office of Emergency Management says it is still in the process of assessing damages.
The emergency proclamation – first issued by King County Executive Girmay Zahilay on Dec. 8 – enables quick contracting for urgent needs like specialized equipment and personnel. It includes a waiver provision, which suspends normal competitive bidding rules for government contracts during a declared emergency.
The emergency proclamation lasts for 21 calendar days as required by state law, unless extended by motion. That 21-calendar-day requirement is set to expire Monday, but Zahilay wrote in a letter to Council Chair Sarah Perry that the risk of another significant weather system and the vital nature of some recovery activities requires the extension.
The county council agreed and unanimously approved the extension of the emergency proclamation in a rare late-December meeting.
“Our actions today ensure that we can continue to respond to this emergency with expediency for the benefits of the many residents who are now returning to the difficult recovery process,” Perry said during the special meeting on Monday.
For most of December, Western Washington residents have been hit by storms triggering widespread flooding, landslides, and power outages, with some areas receiving more than 10 inches of rain in 72 hours. Rivers including the Skagit and Snohomish reached flood stage, forcing major road closures, including Interstate 90.
In King County, its Flood Control District and King County Local Services repaired the Desimone levee on the Green River after it was breached on Dec. 15. The next day, over 100 people were evacuated south of the City of Auburn.
According to Office of Emergency Management Director Brendan McCluskey, there have been some emergency contracting done already for emergency supplies like sandbags, equipment and contractors. He added that in the next coming weeks, those supplies will continue to be needed, along with the inspection and repairs of bridges and roadwork.
Because of the ongoing assessment, there is no date established for when the emergency proclamation could end.
“We’re still in the process of doing a tremendous amount of evaluation, inspection and assessment of the damages and until that is completely done, we really won’t have a sense of how long the emergency repairs will take,” McCluskey said.
The last time King County issued an emergency proclamation was for the bomb cyclone event in November 2024 that resulted in two deaths and over 600,000 homes without power.
King County last extended its emergency proclamation in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the state level, Health and Human Services recently declared a public health emergency for Washington to address ongoing health impacts due to recent severe storms.
