CARNATION, Wash. – Even on a foggy fall day, the view is beautiful near this aptly named hamlet 25 miles east of Seattle: rows of dahlias create a canvas of colors across the Snoqualmie Valley. But when the Snoqualmie River floods – and it's been doing so more often in recent years – the scene turns wretched.
Water can be six feet deep, swamping everything.
This fall, the river started rising in September after unusually heavy rains. Standing on the road above his farm, farmer Bee Cha surveyed the seven acres he has been farming with his parents and brother for half of his 39 years. "It's too early," Cha recalled thinking. "It can't be happening."
The iconic crop here, as across this valley, isn't grapes or apples. It's flowers – lilies, gladiolas and dahlias that are a favorite at farmers markets across the Seattle area. The small industry is dominated by Hmong farmers like Cha and his family – an ethnic community originally from Laos that today farms much of the valley.
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