BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) – Flooding and edges of land caused a complete closure of the main north-south highway on the West Coast overnight near Bellingham, Wash., As the culmination of days of storms and strong winds wreaked havoc in the Pacific Northwest.
The extreme weather was caused by an atmospheric river, a huge column of moisture that stretches over the Pacific and into Washington and Oregon. More than 158,0000 customers were without power in western Washington at one point Monday afternoon.
Interstate 5 was closed near Bellingham, south of the Canadian border, due to the constant threat of debris and flooding.
Schools were also closed on Monday. Evacuations were ordered in multiple areas as flooding inundated business districts and partially submerged cars in communities north of Seattle.
Forecasters said conditions should be much drier Tuesday. But the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for several rivers around western Washington. Strong winds also hit the region on Monday. The gusts pushed 60 mph (96 kph) in several places, including a 58 mph (93 kph) gust at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
On Monday night, Gov. Jay Inslee declared a severe weather emergency in 14 western Washington counties and said the state’s Division of Emergency Management, with the support of the Washington National Guard, would coordinate the response. .
A state of emergency was declared for the city of Hamilton on Sunday. People there, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northeast of Seattle, were urged to evacuate.
What people are reading
Cars and trailers were crammed into the parking lot outside the Red Cross evacuation site at Hamilton Baptist Church, where dozens of residents wait for the storm to pass, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.
Skagit County officials compared this flooding to the severe flooding of 2009, when the Skagit and Samish rivers overflowed and damaged homes, farms and infrastructure.
As the water trickled down the Skagit River, people were warned to expect flooding in Sedro-Woolley, Burlington and Mount Vernon, and Mount Vernon officials had recommended some evacuations Monday night.
The atmospheric river causes flooding and chaos in the Pacific Northwest. #pacificnorthwest #storm
Just south of the Canadian border in Sumas, Washington, officials said the city hall was flooded and that the flooding event looked like one that had not been seen since 1990.
“At this time, there is no reasonably safe way to drive to Bellingham without putting yourself or others at risk,” the city police department said via Twitter.
Nicole Postma, a coffee stand owner in Sumas and president of the Sumas Chamber of Commerce, told The Bellingham Herald on Monday that people are nervous.
“We knew the flood was imminent, but we had no idea it would be like this,” he said.
Southwest of Sumas, deputies using a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office rescue vehicle evacuated residents stranded in the Everson area, authorities said on Twitter. One person disappeared after being washed away by floodwaters and was last seen clinging to a tree, Everson police said via Facebook.
Bellingham experienced a record rainfall on Sunday with a one-day total of 2.78 inches (7 centimeters), crushing the previous 1998 daily record of 0.88 inches (2.2 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service. A daily rainfall record was also set in Bellingham on Monday at 1.89 inches (4.8 centimeters).
All schools in the Bellingham, Wash., District were also closed Tuesday due to flooding, road closures and dangerous conditions, district officials said. Authorities said a person driving south on I-5 in Bellingham early Monday was seriously injured when a tree fell on his vehicle.
Bellingham’s Caylon Coomes drove his truck and paddleboard from his home near Lake Whatcom early Monday to the city’s flooded streets near the interstate.
“It looked pretty good there (by the lake), but the street looks a little better,” he said. He ran into another man in a parking lot and, donning wetsuits, they got into the water and paddled away alongside vehicles caught in the flooding.
On the Olympic Peninsula, several roads were closed in some places and the US Coast Guard helped local authorities evacuate about 10 people west of Forks, Washington. Record daily rains also fell west of Forks in Quillayute on Monday at 4.01 inches (10 centimeters), the weather service said.
A semi-trailer truck rolled over in high winds on the Deception Pass Bridge and was leaning on the railing Monday, state troopers said. The driver was able to get out, according to the state patrol.
Emergency officials warned that people should expect to see water on low roads and should turn around rather than drive through water on the highway.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com