Washington was under a state of emergency Thursday from a barrage of torrential rain that has sent rivers flowing over their banks, caused mudslides to crash down on highways and trapped people in floodwaters. Tens of thousands of residents were under evacuation orders.
Heavy rain continued to fall over parts of the state, prompting rising rivers, road closures, water rescues and suspension of Amtrak trains between Seattle and Vancouver. Rainfall intensity increased in several counties in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, which had seen up to 6 inches (15.2 centimeters) of rain in 24 hours. One area, Snoqualmie Pass, picked up an additional 1.7 inches (4.3 centimeters) of rain in six hours, the National Weather Service said.
After days of unrelenting heavy rain, Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency Wednesday, warning “lives will be at stake in the coming days.” Some residents have already been told to get to higher ground, with Skagit County, in a major agricultural region north of Seattle, ordering everyone within the Skagit River’s floodplain to evacuate.
Along the river in the city of Mount Vernon, teams were set to knock on doors in low-lying areas Thursday to inform them of evacuation notices, authorities said. Further north near the U.S.-Canada border, firefighters rescued several people from their homes, Sumas Mayor Bruce Bosch said.
Nearly 16,000 customers in Washington were without electricity by midday Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us. A mountainous section of U.S. 2 remained closed due to rocks, trees and mud, with no detour or estimated time for reopening, according to the state transportation department. Flooding rivers could break records
According to updated projections, the Skagit River was expected to crest at roughly 42 feet (13 meters) in the mountain town of Concrete on Thursday, and roughly 39 feet (12 meters) in Mount Vernon on Friday.
While those projections are lower than previous estimates, Mount Vernon officials were nonetheless urging residents in the floodplain to evacuate.
“That’s still a record flood, and so we’re preparing for that,” Mayor Peter Donovan said. “Today we’re going to be visiting low-lying neighborhoods, residential areas, and getting the word out the best that we can for folks who haven’t responded yet to evacuation notices.”
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