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Washington Orders Evacuations as Atmospheric River Pushes Rivers Toward Record Crests

Forecasters expect key rivers to crest near or above records in the next two days.

Overview

  • Governor Bob Ferguson declared a state emergency and warned that lives will be at risk as flooding intensifies.
  • Authorities have advised roughly 100,000 residents to evacuate statewide, including mandatory orders for parts of the Skagit River floodplain.
  • Forecasts call for the Skagit to reach about 47 feet at Concrete on Thursday and roughly 41 feet at Mount Vernon on Friday.
  • Hundreds of Washington National Guard members are being deployed to support water rescues, evacuations and other response operations.
  • A Level 4 of 5 atmospheric river has dumped more than 300 mm of rain on the Cascades and Olympics, triggering landslides that closed stretches of I‑90 and U.S. 2 and cutting power to over 17,000 customers, with rivers remaining dangerously high even as the heaviest rain eases.