By Darlene Tsao

The water surged in less than thirty minutes. One moment, Donald Hart and Stephanie Stuckey were living in their tent near the banks of the Skykomish River; the next, they were trapped.

“It became flooded in a matter of half an hour,” Don recalls, now safe within the walls of a Red Cross shelter. As the river rose, the forest they called home turned into an impassable trap of cold water. “There was no way for us to walk out safely without being washed away.”

Stephanie was waist-deep in the rising current, her body became numb from the cold. That’s when a drone and a team of dedicated rescuers located and carried the couple to safety. But for Stephanie, the rescue was only the beginning of a different kind of struggle.

After being released from the hospital, the couple sought refuge at the Red Cross shelter at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe. They arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

“People here are treating us very well,” Stephanie says. “Food's good, they’ve got room, warmth. They're helping us get clothes again because we lost it all.”

Yet, the trauma of the river lingers. “Every time I talk about what I lost, I start to cry. I can't sleep, and all I can see is being in water waist-deep.”

At the Red Cross, we know that a disaster doesn't end when the water recedes. Shelter staff quickly recognized Stephanie’s need for emotional support. A volunteer named Charles sat with her and immediately placed a referral for a mental health counselor.

Beyond emotional care, the team tackled her physical recovery, too. The shelter supervisor, Deb, went "above and beyond" to secure a specialized medical bed so Stephanie could keep her legs elevated, a unique medical necessity for her recovery.

“Deb has been really sweet,” Stephanie said. “She makes me the number one priority.”

Don and Stephanie’s story is one of hundreds unfolding across Washington. As the winter holidays approach, the Red Cross is working around the clock to ensure no one faces these storms alone:

• Since the flooding began, over 320 trained volunteers have mobilized across 10 counties.
• We have provided more than 1,900 overnight stays in over 20 emergency shelters like the one in Monroe.
• Our teams have served more than 14,800 meals and snacks and distributed nearly 3,000 relief supplies to families who, like Don and Stephanie, lost everything.

As we look toward the horizon, our teams are already staging vehicles and relief materials near potential impact areas, ready to deploy the moment the next call comes in.