BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
The full scope of the destruction left behind by more than a week of relentless rain and historic flooding in Washington state remains uncertain, but officials warned Tuesday that the damage is extensive and the recovery will be long. With more heavy rain, strong winds, mudslides and power outages still possible, state leaders cautioned residents that the worst effects of the disaster may not yet be over.
Governor Bob Ferguson said repeated storms fueled by weather systems spanning the Pacific Ocean have delivered nearly two feet of rain in parts of the Cascade Mountains, overwhelming rivers, collapsing levees and inundating entire neighborhoods. The flooding has forced hundreds of dramatic rescues across at least 10 counties and left major transportation routes buried, washed out or unsafe to travel.
As of Tuesday, authorities had confirmed one death: a man who drove past warning signs and into floodwaters in Snohomish County. While the loss of life has been limited so far, Ferguson emphasized that infrastructure damage is severe. State Route 2, a critical east-west highway linking western Washington to the Stevens Pass ski area and the tourist town of Leavenworth, could remain closed for months due to landslides and washouts, he said.
“We’re in for the long haul,” Ferguson said during a news conference. He urged residents to take evacuation orders seriously, warning that ignoring them can quickly turn deadly as water levels rise with little notice.
Officials said it will not be possible to fully assess the financial and structural toll until floodwaters recede and the risk of landslides diminishes. In the meantime, the state and several counties have made millions of dollars available to help displaced residents cover immediate needs such as hotel stays, food and essential supplies. Ferguson said he expects broader federal assistance to be approved once damage assessments are complete.
According to the governor’s office, emergency crews have carried out at least 629 rescues and assisted with 572 evacuations since the storms began. At various points, as many as 100,000 people were under evacuation orders, many of them living along the flood-prone Skagit River north of Seattle.
The National Weather Service warned that elevated river levels and flood risks could persist until at least late this month. Flood and wind watches and warnings remain in effect across much of the Pacific Northwest as additional storms are forecast to bring rain, heavy mountain snow and strong winds over the coming days.
In the city of Pacific, south of Seattle, residents near a breached levee were ordered to evacuate well before dawn Tuesday, only hours after officials had lifted an earlier alert near a different damaged section. The King County Sheriff’s Office deployed a helicopter equipped with a loudspeaker and sent deputies door to door to alert residents, according to sheriff’s office officials.
The breach was first detected around 1:20 a.m., when a 911 caller reported water rapidly entering an apartment building. Fire crews rushed to the scene and evacuated about 100 people in the early morning hours, some of them being pulled from first-floor windows as floodwaters surged inside.
“That was how quickly the water was coming in,” said Kelly Hawks, a spokesperson for the Valley Regional Fire Authority.
By the end of the evacuation, roughly 220 homes had been cleared. No injuries were reported. Facing the levee failure, Pacific police issued an urgent call on social media for a tractor capable of feeding a sandbagging machine. Once the equipment arrived, officials asked volunteers from the community to help fill sandbags in an effort to slow the flooding.
Elsewhere, the dangers of ignoring warnings were underscored by the death in Snohomish County. Deputies said a man believed to be 33 years old drove past posted signs and was later found dead in a car submerged in a flooded ditch. Rescue swimmers located the vehicle in approximately six feet of water, but lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful.
Fire officials in the region said many emergency calls during the flooding involved drivers attempting to cross water-covered roads or becoming stranded on top of their vehicles as conditions worsened.
“They did not understand how rapidly the water rises,” said Jamal Beckham, a battalion chief with Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue. Crews, he said, pulled people off the roofs of their cars, often just before vehicles were completely submerged.
Emergency responders also dealt with residents who underestimated the threat and delayed evacuating their homes, only to find themselves trapped as floodwaters rose. Officials continued to stress that conditions can change quickly and urged people to remain alert, heed official guidance and prepare for a prolonged period of disruption as Washington works to recover from one of the most severe flooding events in its recent history.
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