1916 flood

A view looking east shows the Yakima River spilling north across the railroad tracks and surrounding the Clealum (Cle Elum) Depot. An epic snowstorm two weeks earlier was followed by a warm and wet Chinook wind, popularly known as a snow-eater. The rapidly melting snowpack overflowed the Yakima River to the south of Cle Elum and the Roslyn Creek to the north, and Cle Elum was caught in between. The Roslyn Creek ran through the Northern Pacific wye and then poured down First Street heading east to Pennsylvania and Harris Aves. Flood water seeped into the Cle Elum Echo Office and Golden Rule Department Store, but claimed the Echo, “little damage was done before occupants erected snow walls to hold the water back (3 March 1916).” A small stream flowing down Stafford Ave. became a raging torrent before it reached Roslyn Creek and then “whirled around the Schele residence in an impressive manner,” wrote the Echo, sending “thrilling sensations down the spinal columns of the residents.” The newspaper’s cavalier attitude was based on familiarity. Floods were a regular occurrence in Upper County until dams on Lake Kachess, Kacheless, Cle Elum and Easton helped regulate water flow.