Heavy rain continued to fall over parts of the state, prompting rising rivers, road closures, water rescues and suspension of Amtrak trains between Seattle and Vancouver. Rainfall intensity increased in several counties in Washington's Cascade Mountains, which had seen up to 6 inches of rain in 24 hours. One area, Snoqualmie Pass, picked up an additional 1.7 inches of rain in six hours, the National Weather Service said.
After days of unrelenting heavy rain, Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency Wednesday, warning “lives will be at stake in the coming days.” Some residents have already been told to get to higher ground, with Skagit County, in a major agricultural region north of Seattle, ordering everyone within the Skagit River’s floodplain to evacuate.
Along the river in the city of Mount Vernon, teams were set to knock on doors in low-lying areas Thursday to inform them of evacuation notices, authorities said. Further north near the U.S.-Canada border, firefighters rescued several people from their homes, Sumas Mayor Bruce Bosch said.
Nearly 16,000 customers in Washington were without electricity by midday Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us. A mountainous section of U.S. 2 remained closed due to rocks, trees and mud, with no detour or estimated time for reopening, according to the state transportation department.
