Get ready for another day or so of whirlwind weather, with continued widespread flooding as rivers build toward their crests, and a cold windstorm that blows in Friday afternoon, bringing more rain and gusts of up to 50 miles per hour.
That storm isn’t expected to contribute to the flooding that exists, said Jeff Michalski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle. But it will bring significantly cooler air from the west that will lower snow levels in the mountains to about 3,000 feet, bringing as much as 20 inches and affecting Cascade mountain passes, he said.
Though flooded rivers will drain slowly over the next few days, some won’t get below flood stage until early next week.
Days of steady rain this week prompted flood warnings for many rivers around Western Washington, including the Pilchuck River near Snohomish, the Tolt and the Puyallup. Residents of the Nisqually Delta area of Thurston County were urged to evacuate. Saturated soils elevated the risk of landslides. Throughout the Puget Sound region, streets were flooded, cars were stalled, homes were evacuated and public transit routes were canceled.
[Check road closures for King, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston counties]
Several school districts, including Issaquah and Lake Washington, are starting classes late Friday because of flooding.
Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation on Wednesday for 19 Washington counties: King, Snohomish, Kitsap, Pierce, Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Thurston, Wahkiakum and Whatcom. On Friday morning, Walla Walla County was added to the list.
On Thursday, King County Executive Dow Constantine signed a local emergency proclamation in response to the severe flooding, landslides and other damage from the heavy rain. The proclamation allows county staff to speed up response and turnaround times for departments that need to make repairs, a statement from his office said.
Things will start to clear out Saturday evening and into Sunday and Monday, Michalski said, but he cannot promise sunshine, as there’s a significant chance of fog.
At Rogue Ales and Spirits in Issaquah, General Manager Roxy Ortiz placed eight sandbags behind the restaurant, which sits near Issaquah Creek. She filled the bags at the city’s police station before coming into work, after seeing how fast the waters were rising.
The flooding hadn’t yet reached beyond the parking lot Thursday afternoon, but she and other employees were prepared to evacuate if needed.
The creek, Ortiz said, is usually calm.
“I’ve never seen it like this,” she said.
This is the highest flood level Issaquah Creek has hit in 32 years, according to the United States Geological Survey. The last time flooding in Issaquah came close to rivaling this week’s events was in 2009, the city tweeted Thursday evening.
Floodwaters from the creek forced about 200 residents, including children and pets, from nearby apartment complexes on Wildwood Boulevard Southwest and Newport Way Southwest on Thursday afternoon. No one was injured, but some residents had to be escorted out of buildings by firefighters, Eastside Fire and Rescue Deputy Chief Richard Burke said.
In a post on social media, the Issaquah School District gave a shout out to its bus drivers who worked all day taking residents from the two apartment complexes that were evacuated to the Issaquah Senior Center.
Several cars were partially submerged as water flowed into parking lots and under the Park Shore Apartment building.
The floodwaters swamped the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, where on Thursday standing water remained in the parking lot and under signs for rainbow trout and chinook fry. The hatchery is home to about 4 million fish and 100,000 eggs — all of which were kept safe during the rainstorm.
“There’s significant flooding over here,” said Robin Kelley, the hatchery’s executive director. “Most of the grounds are covered in water. There were streams running down the sidewalks and through the parking lot. It’s like a lake.”
Officials from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife were alerted to the possibility of flooding at the hatchery earlier this week, and made “great efforts” to watch water levels, deliver sandbags and make sure the salmon were protected, Kelley said.
In Snohomish County, owners of flood-threatened farms took livestock to the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe. Twenty-eight horses from a farm near Woods Creek were expected to arrive Thursday evening, along with two pygmy goats, and the fairgrounds’ caretaker said more could be coming.
Because of the rising water near Enumclaw, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stationed lookouts at the Mud Mountain Dam on the White River and the Howard A. Hanson Dam on the Green River, running 24-hour emergency operations, according to a statement.
Both dams’ primary purpose is to manage flood risks, though Western Washington senior water manager Jon Moen said in the statement that water levels could reach those “not seen in over 10 years.”
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Seattle Times staff reporter Elise Takahama contributed to this report, which also includes information from The Associated Press.
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