DEMMING, Wash. — An elderly couple in Whatcom County is without their home after it was washed away in the Nooksack River this week during historic flooding.
The Hutchinsons had lived in their Deming home for 45 years, but feared disaster after a 2021 storm washed away their nearby cabin and the river continued to erode their property.
“The river was pointed this direction, and it kept eating out the bank all the way towards their house,” Barry Hutchinson Jr. explained, highlighting the urgency of the situation on Tuesday after the family’s workshop went into the water.
Barry, his daughter and some neighbors quickly packed up the house.
“I couldn’t think. I just sat down on a tote and just started loading stuff out of the kitchen. I couldn’t talk to anybody, all I could do was just focus and haul stuff away,” said the couple’s son.
Barry and Ruth Hutchinson lived in their home for 45 years, but worried disaster would strike after a 2021 storm washed away their nearby cabin and the rushing water continued to take out chunks of their property in the following years.
“Ohh terrified, yes I am,” said Ruth in an interview with KIRO 7 in November.
No one was hurt as the home was swept away.
Barry Jr. says his parents have a place to stay. They did not have home insurance – their policy was cancelled 20 years ago.
A GoFundMe account is now set up to help them recover.
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