Washington has been in a state of emergency since Wednesday due to the severe flooding which has affected the state located in the northwest of the United States in recent days. “Catastrophic flooding is likely”warned Governor Bob Ferguson after the National Water Prediction Service predicted 18 severe floods and 15 moderate floods could occur. “We anticipate that 100,000 inhabitants could face evacuation orders,” Ferguson added in a message posted online.
The heavy rains that lashed the state caused rivers to overflow, causing landslides and left residents in the area trapped, who had to be rescued by emergency services. Roads had to be closed and train traffic between Seattle and Vancouver was suspended. Due to this situation, the governor declared a state of emergency and issued a warning: “Lives will be at stake in the coming days”.
Currently, residents of the Skagit River floodplain remain evacuated, as the state governor confirmed this Thursday in a message posted on his Facebook account. In addition, nearly 16,000 homes were without electricity at noon this Thursday, according to the PowerOutage.us platform. US2, meanwhile, remains closed due to rocks, trees and mud on the road, according to the state Department of Transportation.
According to the latest forecasts, the Skagit River is expected to reach 13 meters high this Thursday in the town of Concrete and the 12th this Friday in Mount Vernon, a town of 35,000 inhabitants traditionally affected by floods. In 2018, a retaining wall was built to protect the city center.
In the nearby town of Burlington, much of which is in the flood plain, Michael Lumpkin of the police department said authorities were monitoring the river. This It’s high “but inside the dikes”. So far, no rescues have taken place in this city, according to authorities.
“The general hope is that the levees and systems we have in place to prevent catastrophic flooding will work,” Lumpkin said. “But hope is not a plan“So based on the patterns that we see…we will continue the evacuation order,” he added.
Some fear that the old dikes will give way. “This could be potentially catastrophic”said Ellen Gamson, executive director of the Mount Vernon Downtown Association. To prepare, merchants piled sandbags in their stores and residents did the same to protect their homes.
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