National Guard troops went door-to-door early Friday to evacuate the agricultural city north of Seattle as severe flooding across Western Washington left families stranded on rooftops, bridges washed away and homes torn from their foundations.
Gov. Bob Ferguson warned that up to 100,000 people would need to be evacuated across the state and said Friday that the Trump administration had approved a disaster declaration.
Days of torrential rain have caused rivers to rise to record or near-record levels. Officials on Wednesday issued “leave now” orders to tens of thousands of residents in the Skagit River floodplain, including the city of Burlington, which has a population of about 10,000. By Friday morning, muddy water had overflowed from the swamp and flooded homes, prompting further emergency warnings.
“All residents of the City of Burlington must evacuate immediately,” Skagit County wrote.
By late morning, evacuation orders had been lifted for parts of the city, police department spokesman Michael Lumpkin said.
The Skagit River flows through a wide swath of the rugged Cascade Mountains, then winds west through wide, low-lying farmland on its way to Puget Sound. Cities like Burlington are particularly vulnerable to flooding because they are located on flat areas between mountains and the ocean.
National Guard fires up during flood evacuation
Lumpkin said the National Guard knocked on hundreds of doors to inform residents of the evacuation order and helped transport them to shelters if needed. He said the water flooded homes and reached a depth of 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) in some areas.
Although water levels appeared to be receding by late morning, “it’s not completely clear,” Lumpkin said.
Mario Rincon was staying at the hotel with his family, including his one-week-old infant. They returned to their home in Burlington on Friday, but were unable to go inside to assess the damage because the murky floodwaters had reached halfway to the first floor. He had moved some things upstairs in anticipation.
“It will take several days for the water to recede,” he said. “I’m trying to find a place to stay during that time, but it’s a little difficult because my mother and mother-in-law are on vacation from Mexico until the end of December.”
The heaviest rains in the region have ended, but the effects remain widespread. Jeff Michalski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle, said the Skagit River has been slow to recede and some rivers in the Cascade Mountains have not yet reached their banks, but other major rivers are still above flood stage.
Michalski said even if the floodwaters recede, another weather system is approaching and could pass starting Sunday.
“Depending on each river, flooding could last for a long time or flood again,” he said.
Further north, near the U.S.-Canada border, the cities of Sumas, Nooksack and Everson were flooded and evacuated. The Sumas border crossing was closed.
Sumas Mayor Bruce Bosch said large parts of the city were “devastated” by high water just four years after a similar flood. He said in a social media message that it would take most of Friday for water levels to drop enough for people to return, acknowledging that area residents were anxious to return to their homes.
“Me too,” the mayor wrote. “Please wait a moment.”
Debris, landslides and standing water have blocked roads and highways across the state, causing traffic closures.
River flooding sets new record
Many rivers, including the Skagit River, were flooded overnight. In Mount Vernon, the valley’s largest city, river levels rose to more than 37 feet (11 meters), several inches above the previous record, according to the National Water Forecast Service.
Mount Vernon has been plagued by flooding for years, but a wall completed in 2018 held firm and protected downtown from otherwise devastating flooding.
The Snohomish River in the picturesque city of its name rose by nearly a foot (30 centimeters) on Thursday, surpassing its previous record.
The water stopped just before it flooded Mariah Brosa’s elevated riverside home in Concrete, but the raging Skagit River still slammed debris into her home and destroyed her fiancé’s work car.
“I didn’t expect it to be this expensive,” she said.
Authorities respond to floods
Authorities across Washington state have been rescuing people from cars and homes in recent days after a weather phenomenon known as an atmospheric river flooded areas.
A helicopter rescued two families Thursday from the roof of a home in Sumas that was submerged in about 15 feet (4.6 meters) of water, said Battalion Chief Frank Cain Jr. of Whatcom County Fire District 14.
In nearby Welcome, at least two homes collapsed into the Nooksack River due to floodwater erosion, he said. No one was inside at the time.
A herd of elk waded through neck-high water on the Snoqualmie football field.
In one heavy rain. Scientists say that without specific research they cannot directly link any single weather event to climate change, but that it generally causes more intense and frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires.
Attanasio and Rush contributed to The Associated Press. Rush reported from Portland, Oregon, from AP reporters Gene Johnson and Harry Golden in Seattle. Martha Belair of Issaquah, Washington; Mark Thiessen of Anchorage; Mead Gruber and Meade Gruber in Fort Collins, Colorado, contributed to this report.
