PORTLAND, Oregon – Mr Eric Fritch surveyed his 132-acre farm in western Washington state on Dec 11 in the only way possible: by boat.
As waterways in the region rose to historic levels this week, and officials issued urgent evacuation orders to Mr Fritch and more than 100,000 of his neighbours, the Snohomish River, which runs past his farm, had already submerged his fields and fences, along with his tractor and other equipment, even after he had moved them to higher ground.
He saved the highest spot on the farm for 60 head of cattle, but wasn’t sure they would make it. “They’ve got another foot or two of dry ground,” he said, “so it’s really just a question of what happens in the next day or so.”
That’s the situation across western Washington, where several days of heavy rain have swollen a number of rivers and tributaries. Leaders in the Skagit Valley, roughly halfway between Seattle and the Canadian border, ordered everyone within the 100-year flood plain to evacuate.
“You can stand downtown here and just see whole Doug firs and cottonwood trees coming down the river, like a freight train,” said Mr James Eichner, who sought higher ground in the city of Monroe. “It’s just a giant steamroller.”
Officials were especially concerned about the Skagit and Snohomish rivers, which were expected to crest at record levels by Dec 12.
“This is a very, very serious situation,” Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said at an afternoon news conference. “If you have instructions to evacuate, please, please, please evacuate.”
The heavy rain is the result of an unusually potent atmospheric river system pulling a plume of moisture off the warm ocean and spreading it across the Pacific Northwest. It has spread flooding to British Columbia, where highways were shut down late on Dec 10.
The system’s effects reach as far as the eastern United States, where the moisture in the upper atmosphere is supercharging the chance for heavy snow this week.
The worst of the flooding has threatened Washington communities on or close to Puget Sound. Skagit County officials issued what they described as mandatory, immediate evacuation orders for the region’s 100-year flood plain, urging residents, “Do not wait.” NYTIMES
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