BURLINGTON, Wash.—Record floodwaters began slowly receding in Washington state on Dec. 12 after triggering evacuations, inundating communities and prompting dramatic rescues from rooftops and vehicles. But authorities warned that waters would still be high for days, and that danger from potential levee failures remained.
“This is not just a one- or two-day crisis,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said at a news briefing. “These water levels have been historic, and they’re going to remain very high for an extended period of time.” President Donald Trump has signed the state’s request for an emergency declaration, Ferguson said.
An unusually strong atmospheric river dumped a foot or more of rain in parts of western Washington over several days and swelled rivers. No deaths have been reported, Ferguson said.
Authorities have yet to estimate the costs, but photos and videos show widespread damage, with entire communities or neighborhoods flooded around western and central Washington. Officials have conducted dozens of water rescues, debris and mudslides have closed highways, and raging torrents have washed out roads or bridges.
Officials issued “go now” orders Dec. 10 to tens of thousands of residents in the Skagit River flood plain north of Seattle, including the farming city of Burlington, home to nearly 10,000 people. By Dec. 12 morning, muddy water overflowed a slough and rushed into homes, prompting more urgent warnings for Burlington.
National Guard fans out amid flood evacuations
National Guard members knocked on hundreds of doors in Burlington early Dec. 12 to tell residents about the evacuation notice and help transport them to a shelter if needed. By late morning, the evacuation order was lifted for part of the city and waters were slowly receding. But the river remained high, and flash flooding remained a risk due to prolonged pressure on the levees.
The Skagit River drains a wide swath of the rugged Cascade Range before winding west across broad, low-lying farmlands and tulip fields on its way to Puget Sound. Cities like Burlington sit on that delta, leaving them especially vulnerable to floods.
The river crested overnight at 37 feet in the valley’s biggest city, Mount Vernon, surpassing the previous record by a few inches. A flood wall completed in Mount Vernon in 2018 held fast and protected the downtown area.
About 1,000 Burlington residents had to evacuate in the middle of the night, Ferguson said. The water was reportedly 2 to 3 feet deep in certain areas as it flooded homes, police department spokesperson Michael Lumpkin said.
The heaviest rain is over in the region, but the impact remains widespread.
“It’s going to take a while for the flood waters to recede,” said Robert Ezelle, director of the Washington Military Department’s emergency management division. “There’s a lot of water that fell in the mountains and it’s gonna take its time to work through the river drainages.”
More rain was expected beginning Dec. 14. That will cause rivers to rise again, Ezelle said.
Near the U.S.-Canada border, Sumas, Nooksack and Everson—which together have about 6,500 residents—were inundated. The border crossing at Sumas was closed.
Sumas Mayor Bruce Bosch said much of the city had been “devastated”—just four years after a similar flood.
In King County, crews worked through the night to fill a sinkhole on a levee along the Green River in the Seattle suburb of Tukwila, county executive Girmay Zahilay said Dec. 12. Another county wastewater employee got trapped inside a treatment facility during flooding but continued to work for days to keep critical plant operations running, Zahilay said.
“That commitment protected public health for millions of people,” he said.
Crews reach people by boat and by helicopter
Authorities across Washington state in recent days have rescued people from cars and homes.
Helicopters rescued two families on Dec. 11 from the roofs of homes in Sumas that had been flooded by about 15 feet of water, according to Frank Cain Jr., battalion chief for Whatcom County Fire District 14.
Near Deming, two homes collapsed into the Nooksack River as erosion undercut them. No one was inside at the time. Further south in Oregon, a landslide took out a portion of a highway near the central Oregon coast, the state transportation department said, adding it would be a long-term closure. (AP)