Residents and emergency crews across western Washington state remained on high alert on Friday as floodwaters from the rain-swollen Skagit River threatened to breach levees, forcing widespread evacuations and prompting the deployment of National Guard troops to assist in rescue operations.
Authorities ordered the complete evacuation of Burlington, a town of roughly 9,200 residents near Puget Sound, early Friday morning after the Skagit River reached a record crest of nearly 38 feet (11.6 meters) in nearby Mount Vernon—far surpassing the major flood stage threshold.
“We haven’t seen flooding like this ever,” said Karina Shagren, spokesperson for the Washington State Emergency Management Division. She confirmed that, so far, there were no reports of casualties or missing persons.
The Burlington–Mount Vernon corridor in Skagit County, located about 60 miles north of Seattle, has become the epicenter of catastrophic flooding triggered by days of relentless downpours stretching from northern Oregon through western Washington and into British Columbia, Canada.
Atmospheric Rivers Bring Torrential Rainfall
The unprecedented rainfall was driven by a series of atmospheric river storms—long, narrow air currents carrying massive amounts of moisture from the Pacific Ocean deep inland across the Pacific Northwest. According to the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in Maryland, rainfall totals ranged from 6 to 60 inches across the region over the past week, with some areas receiving more than a foot of rain.
“That’s easily a month’s worth of rain that’s fallen in just a week,” noted Rich Otto, a meteorologist at the center.
Before Burlington’s evacuation order, nearly 78,000 residents living within the Skagit River floodplain had already been placed under a Level 3 evacuation notice, urging them to seek higher ground immediately. Statewide, evacuation advisories affected an estimated 100,000 people.
National Guard soldiers and local sheriff’s deputies conducted door-to-door evacuations, helping stranded residents reach safety. Rescue teams used inflatable rafts to navigate flooded streets, ferrying families through waist-deep muddy water.
Levee Integrity Under Pressure
State officials reported that the flood control levees appeared to be holding up after the river’s record crest. This was their first major test since repairs were made following the last major flooding in 2021.
While rainfall had eased by Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service (NWS) maintained a flash flood watch for communities downstream toward the river’s mouth at Puget Sound, warning that high water levels continued to place immense pressure on the levee system.
“It’s not over yet,” said U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, speaking at a press briefing alongside Governor Bob Ferguson. Cantwell announced that President Donald Trump, responding to their request, had signed an expedited federal emergency declaration for the flood zone.
The declaration, she explained, would speed up the delivery of federal resources for road clearance, debris removal, emergency shelter operations, and evacuation assistance.
Continuing Hazards Ahead
Weather forecasts predicted a temporary lull in rainfall through the weekend. However, meteorologists warned that another atmospheric river could arrive Sunday night into Monday, potentially renewing flood threats.
Officials cautioned that any levee breach could worsen the widespread flooding already submerging large parts of western Washington. Aerial footage aired by CNN showed entire neighborhoods underwater, with some homes submerged nearly to their rooftops.
Further south, in Snohomish County, National Guard units delivered food and checked on stranded residents in isolated communities, according to Shagren. In King County, two towns were cut off by rising waters, forcing dozens of rescues from cars, rooftops, and trees.
King County Executive Girmay Zahilay told reporters that an overnight patrol discovered a sinkhole forming near one levee. “We got it immediately filled,” he said, noting that the quick response helped avert a potential collapse.
The historic flooding has also washed out or closed dozens of roads, including several major highways leading to Vancouver, British Columbia. Operations on multiple sections of the BNSF Railway, a key freight route through the Pacific Northwest, were also suspended on Thursday due to the flooding.
