Flooding in Washington state displaces hundreds and closes section of I-5
“WCSO’s rescue vehicle was able to reach many residents, and boats were used in places where the water was too deep. These efforts will continue throughout the night,” the release said. Hundreds of residents were moved to three “quickly established” shelters in the county, officials said.
“We were scared. I mean, it’s our first flood,” Koehler told KOMO. She planned to spend the night at a shelter with her 13-year-old daughter.
Koehler said she and others had put down sandbags, but they “were actually being pushed from people’s houses and down the river.”
On Tuesday, the county said residents of Lummi Island should shelter in place and Lummi Peninsula residents should be prepared to evacuate. A road off the peninsula was likely to flood Tuesday, officials said
In Skagit County, residents of Mount Vernon were advised Monday to evacuate ahead of flooding on the Skagit River, but a flash flood watch for an area of town was canceled Tuesday, according to a tweet released by Seattle’s National Weather Service office.
A bulge in a dike was evaluated by the Army Corps of Engineers, which determined the structure was not damaged.
“The Dike District reports that their remaining concern is for the damage to Riverbend Road, not the diking system,” the city said.
Parts of the city, about 60 miles north of Seattle, are protected by levees and residents in those neighborhoods are advised to keep an eye on emergency notifications.
“The area will dry out with the end of the rainfall for a few days,” the weather service said. “However, with so much water in the system, it will take some time to drain the floodwaters. In addition, the dams on the Skagit were able to absorb a significant part of the flood but with the reservoirs near maximum pool levels, that water must start being released.”
“This severe weather emergency order directs that the plans and procedures to the Washington State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan be implemented,” the release said.
In Clallam County, 10 people, including four children were rescued from their homes as flooding encroached on a residential area near Forks.
The evacuations were conducted with the assistance of Coast Guard helicopter crews, the agency said in a news release.
All residents of the area were accounted for, officials said.
Officials in the city of Sumas said first responders and volunteers helped rescue and evacuate hundreds of people.
CNN’s Robert Shackelford and Jenn Selva contributed to this report.
