SUMAS, Wash. — It's been one year since historic flooding hit the Sumas community in Whatcom County.
Two thousand houses and businesses were damaged and one person was killed.
From people still out of their homes to flooded schools and even toxic mold, one year later and people living in the area are still dealing with the devastating effects of back-to-back floods.
For business owners, the road to recovery has been a long one.
"I dread getting flooded again," said Rick Kildall, owner at Bob's Burgers and Brew in Sumas. "I don't think I could do it."
Rick and his wife Wendy have owned the restaurant for nearly 30 years. They said the floods caused nearly $600,000 in damage.
"The current had broke open the back doors and flowed through and out the front doors carrying furniture and equipment and debris with it," Rick Kildall said. "We didn't even know where to begin."
They started cleaning out the mud and debris one room at a time, along with unanswered questions about flood insurance and grant money that never came. This happened while the restaurant faced construction delays due to COVID-19, too.
"Meanwhile you're spending everything you have and you're not getting an answer," Rick Kildall said.
and Sumas Chamber of Commerce president Nicole Sandoval Postma
A business nearby, Loca Mocha, was also impacted by the floods.
Nicole Sandoval Postma, the owner of Loca Mocha and Sumas Chamber of Commerce president, said she has been frustrated with the lack of communication from county and state officials about flood mitigation assistance.
"Everything I hear from officials or politicians or higher-ups, I relay to the businesses so they can better protect themselves, but there's no information to share," Postma said.
Postma said five of the town's 16 businesses have been closed for good, including the town's only doctor and a nail salon.
"Most are one bad month from having to close their doors," Postma said.
While burgers at Bob's Burgers and Brew Sumas are still being served, Rick Kildall said they are still down 25% in profits partly because around 30% of residents are still not back which means fewer customers coming through their doors.
Postma and Kildall said they want more action taken to prevent these types of historic floods from happening again.
"I've been on hundreds of hours of meetings with county, state, federal and local governments trying to get through it in terms of preventing it in the future," said Bruce Bosch, Sumas mayor.
Bosch said he's been working with neighboring mayors on how to best mitigate flooding from the Nooksack river.
"Sumas and Everson and Nooksack got more water than they should have," Bosch said. "It wasn't equitable. All I ask is for an equitable flood spill."
While Bosch would like to see plans to make that happen, he said Sumas residents need to be resilient to the impacts of global warming.
Meanwhile, people in Sumas continue to turn to each other.
"Their house has been flooded," Rick Kildall said of the community that came to help in the days following the floods. "Their house is dirty and they show up and say what can we do to help you."
Rick Kildall said that's the kind of town Sumas is and he wants officials to know it's worth fighting for.
"Small towns matter," Rick Kildall said. "Yeah it's only 1,000 people, I think that's the math that goes through their head. But to those 1,000 people, it's a big deal."