Folks are hoping to gather enough animal food to last for months, and the community is pitching in to help following recent weather impacts.
In the ongoing landslide situation at 356th Drive Southeast in Fall City, one of the impacted properties is animal sanctuary Rooster Haus Rescue.
The sanctuary is home to nearly 100 rescue animals, primarily roosters, and is one of the more than 75 properties reached only by the sole access road. Organizers of the rescue don’t plan to evacuate — they are preparing to stay.
A Facebook fundraiser is underway for the sanctuary, with more than $6,000 raised of its $12,000 goal as of Feb. 17. Anyone can go online to the Facebook page “Rooster Haus Rescue” to learn more or contribute.
Founder Jenny Rae Mathison, who goes by Jenny Rae, said the community generosity has been overwhelming during this stressful time of uncertainty. She has been busy gathering supplies for the worst case scenario — maybe even being stuck there for a few months while the road is worked on.
She said the situation is, “changing by the hour,” and she’s been told the road, “could be closed for months.”
Rae said in addition to funds they’ve also had friends and family drop off animal food, human food, water and other supplies. They also have an RTV (rough terrain vehicle) on loan from Pasado’s Safe Haven, another animal sanctuary.
Rae said if they needed to, they would be able to evacuate or go to town for supplies via logging roads and cutting through private properties — a route that would take a few hours.
“We’re not going to be completely cut off,” she said. “The worst case scenario is we might not have power for a couple weeks and the road might be closed a couple of months.”
She said they are prepared to stay even without power for a few weeks and expect to be fine. As for food, Rae said they now have enough for the animals for about a month. They also recently secured a generator through donated funds.
The landslide is near power lines, so losing power is a concern. Since they are on well, a loss of power would impact the ability to pump water.
To add to the already stressful situation, Rae also has several animals up for crucial vet visits and surgeries — including Eagle, a 19-year-old dog.
“I think we’re going to be okay. It’s just difficult,” she said, noting it’s been an emotional time. She worries about not being able to go to work and therefore not being able to pay for the sanctuary. “We’ve been getting a great outpour of support. It’s been great to see the community step up and help us.”
Broch Bender, spokesperson for King County road services, on Feb. 14 said a weight restriction is in place for the road, and the department is assessing the situation. The road was closed between 9 a.m. until noon that day for soil consultant analysis.
Out of an abundance of caution, voluntary evacuations were taking place when the event started on Feb. 10. The shift in the ground is occurring slowly, but could accelerate — especially with rainfall — at any time.
Residents of the neighborhood could be stuck if the road closes and they did not evacuate. Bender said they are working on an evacuation route.
Over the last several weeks there have been several landslides, floods and road closures throughout King County, keeping workers busy.
“We have all available crew working to restore all unincorporated King County roads affected by flooding or slides. We also are teaming with other King County agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources and parks, to clear roads and reopen them as fast as possible,” Bender said in an email.
