Live updates: 100,000 evacuated in historic Skagit Valley flood in Washington state

• "Catastrophic" conditions continue to threaten Western Washington as an atmospheric river sweeps through the Pacific Northwest.
• 100,000 people have been placed under evacuation orders from their homes in the Skagit Valley, a densely populated agricultural hub an hour north of Seattle, and told to move to higher ground.
• The National Weather Service said rainfall was expected to peak Wednesday night, while some parts of Skagit County to the north may not see the worst of the flooding until Thursday or Friday.
• Flooding is expected to surpass a record set in 1990, when floods caused two human fatalities, over 2,000 evacuations, and more than $100 million in damage, according to a Natural Disaster Survey report.
• Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency in response to the intense flooding. Several impacted counties also issued evacuation orders Wednesday afternoon.

1:06 p.m.

Skagit County officials reiterate calls to evacuate

Emergency responders are urging Washingtonians to take extra precautions and listen to evacuation orders as Western Washington could see historic flooding on the Skagit River and in surrounding areas.

The National Weather Service forecasts the Skagit River will crest at over 39 feet by 10 a.m. Friday morning. More than 75,000 people living in Skagit County have been affected by evacuation orders so far.

Skagit County Commissioner Lisa Janicki made a direct plea to residents.

“You are responsible for your first level of safety,” Janicki said. “Please be preemptive, please get out if you are in that defined flood zone.”

Janicki noted that many businesses in Burlington and Mount Vernon have closed, as well as schools. But some are still making risky decisions.

“People are walking their dogs on top of these dikes that may fall,” Janicki said. “We’re hoping they hold, but there’s seepage in some spots.”

Julie de Losada, chief of emergency management for Skagit County, said after Mount Vernon experienced flooding in 2021, the city’s dike and drainage systems were impacted. There have been repairs from the Army Corps since that time, according to de Losada, but Friday’s forecasted crest will be the true test of their vulnerabilities.

“We don’t know yet until the water starts rising more and pushing against that dike system more,” de Losada said.

Speaking at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon on Thursday afternoon, Gov. Bob Ferguson said he spoke with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday afternoon, and emphasized the “tremendous need” the state has for assistance from the federal government.

“We tried to be as persuasive as we could to our partners in the federal government that they need to approve that emergency right away,” Ferguson said.

The governor said he’ll join another call with FEMA later on Thursday.

There have been no reported deaths due to the flooding so far.

— Noel Gasca

12:45 p.m.

Mount Vernon residents brace for potential flood wall breach

People in Mount Vernon watched with uneasiness as the Skagit River slowly crept up the riverfront park steps on Thursday morning.

The city completed construction of the flood wall in 2018, and it helped keep flood water at bay amid record flooding in 2021. But residents worried about how effective it would be this time as waters continued to rise, with the Skagit River expected to crest at 39 feet Friday morning.

The historic downtown core slopes downhill from the river. Business owners placed sandbags down and put plywood over their windows hoping to mitigate any flood damage.

— Casey Martin

12 p.m.

Washington’s Congressional delegation writes to President Trump

Washington’s Congressional representatives and senators wrote to President Trump Thursday urging federal action amid rising waters.

Back-to-back storms are “threatening lives, property, and livestock in every corner of Washington,” the letter states.

The letter notes that in Skagit County alone, more than 75,000 people will be affected by evacuation orders — over half the county’s population.

“[Skagit] county is bracing for significant loss of life, infrastructure, and property, with a full recovery expected to take years or even decades,” the letter continues. Some areas on the Skagit River may see floodwaters rise five feet higher than the existing record.”

The Skagit River passes through many of the more populated communities in the county, which has experienced significant flooding in the past. A major flood in 2021 tested new flood walls in Mount Vernon.

At a press conference Thursday at noon, the head of Washington state's Emergency Management Division Robert Ezelle said that the current flood is expected far exceed that, with major rivers throughout the state setting high water marks never before recorded.

The situation prompted Gov. Bob Ferguson to not only declare a state of emergency for Washington on Wednesday, but to also request an expedited declaration of emergency from the federal government. The letter sent to President Trump on Thursday morning doubles down on that request and urges the president to respond.

FEMA said Wednesday that it had deployed response teams to Washington state, "with more on standby."

The letter was signed by both Democrats and Republicans, including Rep. Rick Larsen (D), Suzan DelBene (D), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D), Dan Newhouse (R), Michael Baumgartner (R), Emily Randal (D), Pramila Jayapal (D), Kim Schrier (D), Adam Smith (D), Marilyn Strickland (D), as well as Democrat Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

The Trump administration has previously denied Washington state's requests for federal assistance following natural disasters, such as the 2024 bomb cyclone. During Trump's first administration, the small Washington town of Malden received no help after it was decimated by wildfire.

— Dyer Oxley

11:50 a.m.

City of Duvall declares state of emergency

Duvall Mayor Amy Ockerlander declared a state of emergency as water levels on the nearby Snoqualmie River continue to rise.

The declaration noted that "widespread road closures" and "impacts to public infrastructure" have already struck the small town. The declaration allows the city to more quickly use public funds and activate emergency services.

Duvall is about 25 miles northeast from Seattle.

— Dyer Oxley

11:29 a.m.

WA National Guard members sandbagging

Hundreds of Washington National Guard members are in or headed to Skagit County for “various sandbagging missions,” or installing temporary barriers to help mitigate floodwater damage.

Another 200 members are processing in Kent and should be in Skagit by Thursday afternoon, according to Washington State Military Department spokesperson Karina Shagren. Their mission hasn’t yet been determined, but they’ll potentially help monitor road closures, Shagren said.

— Amy Radil

10:28 a.m.

Scenes from an emergency shelter in Mount Vernon

After Skagit County residents received evacuation orders Wednesday night, an emergency shelter set up in Mount Vernon quickly filled up — leading the Red Cross to open a second, larger one at Bethany Covenant Church.

The shelter signed in around 100 people, who showed up in their cars and minivans. Some were dressed in pajamas. Others were still in their work clothes. A lot of people came with their pets.

Red Cross volunteer Kristi Dunn was helping manage intake there. She and other volunteers made sure clients got registered, something to eat, something hot to drink, a cot and blankets, and whatever else they might need through the night.

Above all, the volunteers tried to help people feel calm and supported.

“A lot of it is being able to offer people a place to come in and sometimes just take a breath and know they’re OK, and then try to put their thoughts together of what their next steps are,” Dunn said.

One couple, Dennis and Leslie Schleusner, came from a trailer park in Burlington. They said the river had never threatened their home before. But the river is so high this year, they’re afraid they could lose everything — their food, their clothes, their knick-knacks.

But what they care about most is their cats. They had a hard time getting out of their house, because one of their cats was hiding under the bed.

And on Wednesday night, those cats were complicating things for them at the shelter.

“We got three cats in the car,” Dennis said, “and I don’t know what we’re going to do with them.”

“They’re used to sleeping with us, [but] we can’t have them in the same room because of the allergies that other people have,” Leslie added. “So I don’t know how they’re going to handle it.”

Volunteers also struggled to get pet food to the shelter because a lot of stores closed early.

It was also a challenge getting dinner for the humans to the shelter.

Carol Jenssens is a Red Cross volunteer who drove all the way from Birch Bay, near Canada, to help coordinate the disaster response. She said dinner was delayed because of the flooding.

“We ordered pizza to be delivered,” she said. “[We] thought it was going to come and they couldn’t get here because of the flooded roads. So now we went out and brought food that we had and we’ve got to go get more food, so nobody goes hungry.”

It turned out Walmart — and most other grocery stores — were closed. Finally, they found a Haggen grocery store that was open.

Generally, volunteers said the first night of an emergency shelter operation is always a little chaotic, but it usually calms down by the end of the second day.

— Joshua McNichols

8:17 a.m.

Skagit residents told to 'GO NOW'

“GO NOW.” That’s the message from Skagit County to 100,000 residents who live in the valley’s floodplains. Parts of Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley are under mandatory evacuation orders because of the swollen Skagit River.

“This is a flood that we haven't seen before,” Mount Vernon Mayor Peter Donovan said. “The potential for catastrophic flooding is real ... and so we need to encourage people to heed that warning and to move on to higher ground.”

The Skagit River is expected to rise at least two feet above record levels near Mount Vernon on Friday — after it's expected to break the record near Concrete on Thursday.

The National Weather Service has also issued a flash flood watch for western Skagit and northwestern Snohomish Counties because it is worried some levees and dikes along the Skagit River could fail.

—Angela King

8:17 a.m.

'Catastrophic' conditions

Western Washington braced for what the National Weather Service in Seattle called “catastrophic” conditions Wednesday as an atmospheric river drenched the state.

The NWS forecasted major flooding for 17 rivers as rain persisted across the region. Parts of Northwest Oregon were also affected, with flood warnings in place for several rivers.

Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency in response to the intense flooding. Several impacted counties also issued evacuation orders Wednesday afternoon.

The ocean-crossing storms known as atmospheric rivers are nothing new: They’re a major source of moisture up and down the West Coast every winter. But climate scientists expect them to grow more powerful, arrive more frequently, and last longer as Earth’s climate keeps warming.

—John Ryan