When the levee breaks: mutual aid in action

Northwest Washington Flood Response: How Our Community Showed Up When It Mattered

Joshua Hale
December 11, 2025

6min Read | Watch | Listen

Hey there Visionaries!

Northwest Washington is underwater right now.

The Skagit River just broke records.

This is intense. This is real. And I'm not here to downplay any of it.

What I am here to do is share what happened in my corner of this mess.

Because when I got that call yesterday that our mutual aid home base was flooding, something clicked for me.

The emergency response system is stretched thin right now.

They're doing what they can, but there aren't enough hands, enough trucks, enough hours in the day.

So while we wait for help to arrive, we've got each other.

Your neighbors. Your friends. The people you've been building relationships with.

That's who shows up first when things go sideways.

In the critical first hours, it's the people closest to you who can move fastest.

Why You Should Give All the Cares:

Real-World Mutual Aid: See exactly how community networks respond when disaster strikes
Network Analysis Breakdown: That viral post about control structures? There's a reason thousands read it
Practical Prep: Free flood emergency action plan (because this won't be the last time)

When the Water Rises, Community Matters

Let me paint you a picture.

Yesterday morning, weather reports started looking gnarly.

Not "grab an umbrella" gnarly.

More like "this is gonna break 100-year flood records" gnarly.

First thing I did? Hit up the mutual aid group chat.

"Yo, everyone seeing this? You good? Got what you need?"

Everyone checked in. We were solid.

Then my phone rings.

"Josh, get over here NOW. The shop's flooding."

Our mutual aid home base was getting slammed. Water cascading down from the neighbor's property, turning their backyard into a river, rushing straight into the shop and the newly built sauna area.

I grabbed those sandbags I'd stashed in my prep supplies (this is exactly why you keep them) and hauled butt over there.

Check out https://weatherstar.netbymatt.com

The Part Where We Actually Do The Work

For the next hour, we filled sandbags like our lives depended on it.

Because someone's livelihood actually did.

We built a levee. Diverted water. Got creative with drainage.

But here's where it gets interesting.

I realized my kid was across town at the ice rink for a field trip. Last year, we got blocked in by flooding for 2 days. Roads cut off on both sides. A guest got stuck trying to leave our property.

I wasn't letting my daughter get stranded on the wrong side of the floodwater.

Grabbed her early. Got back.

The levee had broken.

Time to think bigger.

Following the Water to the Source

Instead of just fighting symptoms, we went upstream.

Found the neighbor's pond overflowing. The drainage was clogged, so water was dumping over the road and straight into my MAG’s backyard.

I knocked on the neighbor's door. Asked permission to dig on her property.

She said yes and came out to help.

Then another neighbor showed up. Then more mutual aid members.

For 2 hours, we dug trenches. Created new drainage paths. Redirected that water to where it needed to go.

By dark, the backyard was dry. The shop was safe.

The drainage had grown over

Moved it to the front yard and the ditch

This Is What Mutual Aid Actually Looks Like

Not some theoretical "wouldn't it be nice if" scenario.

Real people. Real shovels. Real mud.

Checking on each other before disaster hits.

Showing up when it does.

Problem-solving together instead of waiting for someone else to fix it.

And yeah, I know there are heartbreaking stories happening right now. The Skagit River is breaking records. People getting evacuated. This is hitting hard.

But this is also proof that when you build real community beforehand, you've got something solid when things go sideways.

What You Can Do Right Now

I've created a Flood Emergency Action Plan resource.

Free. Practical. Based on what we just lived through.

Share it with anyone in affected areas.

Or keep it for yourself because climate chaos isn't slowing down.

This goes straight into our mutual aid library under "Natural Disaster Protocols."

My “Who is they” Post Went Viral

This week I dropped a breakdown of the 2025 Global Control Structure.

Worth a read Start with Part 1 then 2 then 3

Over 1,200 people engaged with it. Hundreds of comments. Lots of reactions.

Post 1 “You keep saying ‘They’ run the world. WHO? Give me names. Give me proof.” So I did.
Post 2 What most people call "conspiracy theory" has a name in academia: Network Analysis. Here is what the research actually shows.
Post 3 The solution… If these past posts felt like something finally put words to the splinter in your mind, you're different.

The research actually shows how these systems connect.

Most people will add it to their mental folder of "yep, the world is rigged" and change nothing.

A few will be different.

They'll stop rese

arching and start building.

Because you can spend your whole life mapping out how they control you, or you can spend that time building parallel systems they don't control.

Mutual aid networks. Local food systems. Real skills. Actual community.

The 12% aren't waiting for permission. We're building the parallel infrastructure.

Learn the solution at Beyond The Matrix

Today’s Takeaways:

Community > Speed: When disaster hits, your neighbors show up faster than any agency
Prep Isn't Paranoia: Those sandbags sitting in storage just saved someone's shop
Systems Thinking Wins: Fighting symptoms is exhausting, solving root problems is effective
The 12% Build: Stop researching control structures and start building alternatives

Been through flooding? Building mutual aid in your area? Got questions about getting started?

Hit reply. I read everything.

Alright, that's what went down this week.

If you're in the flood zone right now, stay safe. Listen to evacuation orders. Help your neighbors if you can.

For everyone else: This is your reminder that community isn't something you build when you need it.

It's something you build so it's there when you do.

Stay grounded and free,

Joshua | The Holistic Tech Wizard

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