Cold spell strains, snaps water pipes

Last week's cold spell created havoc for public and private water systems around Wahkiakum County.

Skamokawa's Westside Water Works lost its supply Sunday as a frozen water line thawed. The 60,000 gallon reservoir was drained, and water system members scrambled Monday to make repairs.

A leaking sprinkler line on Saturday morning flooded the Cathlamet building which houses the Golden Ladder and the Secret Garden.

The floor was flooded when owners Hollie Longtain arrived to open for business Saturday morning. Volunteers helped Longtain and co-owner Kari Claussen haul merchandise out to dry and begin vaccuming water and setting up heaters.

"We'll survive," Longtain said.

She added that the quick action of volunteers allowed them to save much merchandise, but they'll have to replace flooring.

The Cathlamet Water Department responded to many reports of broken mains and water pipes.

A low water level alarm at a reservoir awakened Superintendent David Vik Monday night. He was able to find and isolate the leak; a connection in a vault near the Wahkiakum High School football field had cracked.

An old corroded connection to a service line broke Thursday along Jacobson Road.

"That was the worst," said water worker Kevin Patching. "We had to shut off the water, and we were afraid people's connections would freeze. But we got it fixed pretty quickly."

The water crew had other water leaks to repair, and they responded to about 15 houses where frozen pipes had cracked and started leaking when thawed.

Skamokawa residents reported having problems where they hadn't had freezing problems before.

Middle Valley resident Kerrie McNally said she had recorded a low temperature of four degrees last week, and her well pump froze despite being warmed by a heat lamp.

Puget Island Water System and Western Wahkiakum each had a break caused by the freeze.

Water breaks in Skamokawa

Reporter Stevan Morgain, a Skamokawa resident, filed this brief report Tuesday afternoon as he dealt with his own broken pipes:

Two pipes at Skamokawa Town Center blew out sometime between Saturday and Sunday and drained the town's water system of 60,000gallons of water. The town was without water until a few minutes ago.

The former Newton House Bed and Breakfast blew a pipe at the water meter.

The Twin Gables Bed and Breakfast lost water and discovered a total of eight breaks in its water system, including one in its sprinkler system.

Finally, one Skamokawa resident discovered she could bathe with only four cups of water, and several other residents high-tailed it out of town and spent the night in Astoria.