Overview
- Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency as authorities estimated up to 100,000 residents could face evacuation orders, including a Level 3 "Go Now" directive for Skagit County’s entire 100-year floodplain.
- Hundreds of Washington National Guard members and water‑rescue teams were mobilized, with boat and helicopter rescues reported in Orting and Sultan after rapidly rising waters trapped residents.
- A rare Flash Flood Watch covers western Skagit and northwestern Snohomish County because levee or dike failures could unleash sudden, life‑threatening inundation.
- Landslides and flooding shut portions of I‑90 and US 2 and 97, Amtrak service between Seattle and Vancouver was suspended, and more than 17,000 customers lost power at times.
- Forecasters said the atmospheric river is weakening but major river flooding will persist for days, with some Skagit crest projections revised downward yet still near or at record levels, and overflow from the Nooksack sent floodwaters into British Columbia’s Sumas Prairie prompting evacuations and highway closures.