Imagine sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner, only to be told you need to evacuate your home. Hundreds in northwest Washington spent the holiday with nothing but the clothes on their backs as they raced to avoid flood waters. Relentless rains have forced the Skagit River near Mount Vernon to reach its highest level in 11 years. About 250 people were displaced and taken to nearby shelters.
The #Skagit River near Mt. Vernon very near crest at this point, more than a foot above the major flood stage. The 630 AM level of 33.15 ft is highest since November 7, 2006 when a crest of 33.85 ft occurred. https://t.co/7nO0VKL8ut #wawx #waflood pic.twitter.com/yUrKFHHUhN
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) November 24, 2017
Residents of Mount Vernon, Concrete and Hamilton were impacted. The town hall and adjacent park were swamped with water (cover photo courtesy of Skagit County DEM). More than a dozen roads were forced to close because of water overflow.
A couple more photos of Howard Miller Steelhead Park courtesy of our parks director. Four campers relocated for the evening. #wawx pic.twitter.com/ChiKDZxnjj
— Skagit County DEM (@SkagitDEM) November 24, 2017
Skagit River Flooding in Clear Lake, lady was trying to move your truck out of water. #wawx @NWSSeattle @ChaseCaseCO @KING5Seattle @KIRO7Seattle @komonews pic.twitter.com/Q7GKq1bquy
— Benjamin Jurkovich (@BenjaminJurkovi) November 24, 2017
While the river is forecast to go down in the next few days, an incoming storm system will likely exacerbate conditions this weekend. Hopefully residents will have a chance to survey the damage and protect their homes from further problems before the next round hits. Remember: TURN AROUND, DON’T DROWN!
For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Karissa Klos