19 levees in King County at risk of failure, corps reports

King County alone has more levees at risk of failure in a flood than in all but one other state in the nation, concluded a report issued Thursday by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The 19 decaying county levees, most in North Bend and along the Cedar and Green rivers near Kent and Renton, put Washington behind only California as the state with the most serious potential for levee breaks.

North Bend Mayor Ken Hearing said most of the city is the flood plain of either the Middle or South forks of the Snoqualmie River. Five of the problem levees on the list are within the city limits and three are nearby.

The Corps of Engineers' "unacceptably maintained levees" list is distressing, but it didn't come as a total surprise, he said.

"It's a cause for concern," Hearing said. "Maybe now we have the opportunity to get them fixed, to get them corrected."

In all, the corps ranked 122 levees as needing immediate maintenance. California led the nation with 37.

from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer