By Ginika Igboke
Record floodwaters across Washington state began to slowly recede on Friday after days of torrential rain triggered mass evacuations, submerged communities, and forced dramatic rescues from rooftops and stranded vehicles. State officials cautioned, however, that rivers will remain dangerously high for days and that the risk of levee failures has not passed.
“This is not just a one- or two-day crisis,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said during a news briefing. “These water levels have been historic, and they’re going to remain very high for an extended period of time.”
Ferguson said President Donald Trump has approved Washington’s request for an emergency declaration, clearing the way for federal assistance.
An unusually powerful atmospheric river dumped a foot or more of rain across parts of western Washington over several days, swelling rivers well beyond their banks. Despite the widespread destruction, no deaths have been reported, according to the governor.
Damage estimates have not yet been finalized, but images from across western and central Washington show entire neighborhoods inundated. Authorities have carried out dozens of water rescues, while debris flows and mudslides shut down highways. In several areas, fast-moving water washed out roads and damaged bridges.
Officials issued “go now” evacuation orders Wednesday for tens of thousands of residents in the Skagit River floodplain north of Seattle, including the farming city of Burlington, home to nearly 10,000 people. By early Friday, muddy water spilled over a slough and surged into homes, prompting renewed emergency warnings.
National Guard members went door to door in Burlington before dawn Friday, urging residents to evacuate and helping transport people to shelters. By late morning, evacuation orders were lifted in parts of the city as water levels began to drop, though officials warned that the Skagit River remained high and that flash flooding was still possible due to sustained pressure on levees.
The Skagit River drains a broad stretch of the Cascade Range before flowing through low-lying farmland and tulip fields toward Puget Sound. Communities like Burlington sit on the river’s delta, leaving them especially vulnerable during major flood events.
Overnight, the river crested at 37 feet in Mount Vernon, the largest city in the Skagit Valley, surpassing the previous record by several inches. A flood wall completed in 2018 successfully protected Mount Vernon’s downtown core.
About 1,000 Burlington residents were forced to evacuate in the middle of the night, Ferguson said. In some neighborhoods, floodwaters reached depths of 2 to 3 feet inside homes, according to Burlington police spokesperson Michael Lumpkin.
Mario Rincón, who had been staying in a hotel with his family, including a week-old baby, returned to his Burlington property Friday but was unable to enter due to standing water that reached partway up the first floor. Anticipating flooding, he had moved belongings upstairs.
“It’s going to be a few days before the water recedes,” Rincón said. “We’re trying to figure out where to stay in the meantime, which is hard because my mom and my mother-in-law are visiting from Mexico for the holidays.”
Although the heaviest rainfall has ended, officials stressed that its effects will linger.
“There’s a lot of water that fell in the mountains, and it’s going to take time to work its way through the river systems,” said Robert Ezelle, director of the Washington Military Department’s emergency management division. He added that additional rain expected beginning Sunday could cause rivers to rise again.
Near the U.S.-Canada border, the communities of Sumas, Nooksack, and Everson—home to about 6,500 people combined—were heavily flooded, forcing the closure of the Sumas border crossing. Sumas Mayor Bruce Bosch said much of the city had been devastated, noting the disaster comes just four years after a similar flood.
In a message posted to social media, Bosch urged residents to remain patient. “Hang in there,” he wrote.
In King County, crews worked overnight to repair a sinkhole on a levee along the Green River in the Seattle suburb of Tukwila, County Executive Girmay Zahilay said. He also praised a county wastewater employee who became trapped inside a treatment facility during the flooding but continued working for days to keep critical operations running.
“That commitment protected public health for millions of people,” Zahilay said.
Across the state, emergency crews have rescued people from submerged homes and stranded vehicles. In Whatcom County, helicopters airlifted two families Thursday from rooftops in Sumas after floodwaters reached roughly 15 feet, according to fire officials. Near Deming, erosion caused two homes to collapse into the Nooksack River, though no one was inside at the time.
Animals were also rescued during the flooding, including a rooster that sought refuge on a tree branch and was saved by kayakers navigating floodwaters near Burlington.
Farther south, Oregon officials reported a landslide that destroyed part of a highway near the central Oregon coast, resulting in a long-term closure as crews assess the damage.
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