(Re: “King County approves $34.6 million for Green River Valley flood preparations,” Oct. 24):

In lieu of the recent predictions for flooding in the Green River Valley, it is comforting to hear that the King County Council has approved $34.6 million in funding as we prepare to protect the homes, properties and the very lives of the people who live in the affected areas. Also, it is inspiring to see our community arise and unite as we find shelter for potential victims of a raging flood.

On the other hand, it is a situation where our hands have been tied in an impossible knot, and we are the ones who have tangled ourselves up. The lake and swamplands that we now call the valley area have always been prone to flooding. As we settled those areas, we not only rerouted the Green River’s natural course, but we set our hopes on the Howard Hanson Dam to control the massive amounts of water we were trying to displace. Here we are, years later, with a worn down dam, record breaking weather patterns, and predictions of untold damage that will affect thousands of people.

We cannot undo what has already been done. All we can do now is work together to see that this doesn’t happen again. Thousands of homes and even whole sections of cities were imprudently built in a flood region. Now we have to cope with the consequences because we moved in such haste without proper planning. Let’s learn from our mistakes, not repeat the possibility of this looming catastrophe that we could have controlled.

M.A. Fonden, Federal Way