MOUNT VERNON: Days of torrential rain in Washington state has caused historic floods that have stranded families on rooftops, washed over bridges and ripped at least two homes from their foundations, and experts warned that even more flooding expected Friday could be catastrophic.
Washington is under a state of emergency and evacuation orders are in place for tens of thousands of residents. Gov. Bob Ferguson on Thursday urged everyone to follow evacuation instructions as yet another river neared record levels.
“I understand that many in our state have experienced significant floods in the past,” he said on the social platform X. “However, we’re looking at a historic situation.”
About 78,000 residents of a major agricultural region north of Seattle were ordered to evacuate the floodplain of the Skagit River, which was expected to crest Friday morning.
The floods were impacting large parts of the state, with several bridges flooded and some major roads inundated or washed out. Some roads had no alternate routes and no estimated reopening time, including a large part of state Route 410.
A landslide blocked part of Interstate 90 east of Seattle, with photos showing vehicles trapped by tree trunks, branches, mud and standing water.
In the north near the US-Canada border, the cities of Sumas, Nooksack and Everson were evacuated after being inundated. The border crossing at Sumas was closed and Amtrak suspended trains between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
Sumas Mayor Bruce Bosch said much of the city has been “devastated” by the high waters just four years after a similar flood.
Flooding rivers break records
The Snohomish River surged nearly a foot (30 centimeters) higher than its record Thursday in the picturesque city that shares its name, while the Skagit River rose just above its record Thursday night in Mount Vernon, according to the National Water Prediction Service.
Earlier Thursday, the Skagit just missed its previous record as flooding surged through the mountain town of Concrete.
The waters stopped just short of getting inside Mariah Brosa’s raised riverfront home in Concrete, but the raging river still slapped debris against her home and totaled her fiancé’s work car, she said.
“I didn’t think it would come this high,” she said.
Flooding from the Skagit has long plagued Mount Vernon, the largest city in Skagit County with some 35,000 residents. Flooding in 2003 displaced hundreds of people.
A floodwall that protects downtown passed a major test in 2021, when the river crested near record levels. Water was at the foot of the floodwall as of late Thursday morning, Mayor Peter Donovan said.
In nearby Burlington, officials hoped dikes and other systems would protect their community from catastrophe, said Michael Lumpkin, with the police department.
Officials respond to flooding
Authorities across Washington state in recent days have rescued people from cars and homes after an atmospheric river soaked the region.
Helicopters rescued two families on Thursday from the roofs of homes in Sumas that had been flooded by about 15 feet (4.6 meters) of water, while the city’s fire station had 3 feet (91 centimeters) of water, according Frank Cain JR., battalion chief for Whatcom County Fire District 14.
In nearby Welcome, erosion from the floodwaters caused at least two houses to collapse into the Nooksack River, he said. No one was inside at the time.
In a football field in Snoqualmie, a herd of elk swam and waded through neck-high water.
East of Seattle, residents along Issaquah Creek used water pumps as rushing floodwaters filled yards Thursday morning. Yellow tape blocked off a hazardous area along the creek.
Climate change has been linked to some intense rainfall. Scientists say that without specific study they cannot directly link a single weather event to climate change, but in general it’s responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires.
Another storm system is expected to bring more rain starting Sunday.
Washington state faces historic floods that have washed away homes and stranded families
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Washington state faces historic floods that have washed away homes and stranded families
- About 78,000 residents of a major agricultural region north of Seattle were ordered to evacuate the floodplain of the Skagit River
WHO chief says reasons US gave for withdrawing ‘untrue’
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a joint statement Thursday that Washington had formally withdrawn from the WHO
- And in a post on X, Tedros added: “Unfortunately, the reasons cited for the US decision to withdraw from WHO are untrue”
GENEVA: The head of the UN’s health agency on Saturday pushed back against Washington’s stated reasons for withdrawing from the World Health Organization, dismissing US criticism of the WHO as “untrue.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that US announcement this week that it had formally withdrawn from the WHO “makes both the US and the world less safe.”
And in a post on X, he added: “Unfortunately, the reasons cited for the US decision to withdraw from WHO are untrue.”
He insisted: “WHO has always engaged with the US, and all Member States, with full respect for their sovereignty.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a joint statement Thursday that Washington had formally withdrawn from the WHO.
They accused the agency, of numerous “failures during the Covid-19 pandemic” and of acting “repeatedly against the interests of the United States.”
The WHO has not yet confirmed that the US withdrawal has taken effect.
- ‘Trashed and tarnished’ -
The two US officials said the WHO had “trashed and tarnished” the United States, and had compromised its independence.
“The reverse is true,” the WHO said in a statement.
“As we do with every Member State, WHO has always sought to engage with the United States in good faith.”
The agency strenuously rejected the accusation from Rubio and Kennedy that its Covid response had “obstructed the timely and accurate sharing of critical information that could have saved American lives and then concealed those failures.”
Kennedy also suggested in a video posted to X Friday that the WHO was responsible for “the Americans who died alone in nursing homes (and) the small businesses that were destroyed by reckless mandates” to wear masks and get vaccinated.
The US withdrawal, he insisted, was about “protecting American sovereignty, and putting US public health back in the hands of the American people.”
Tedros warned on X that the statement “contains inaccurate information.”
“Throughout the pandemic, WHO acted quickly, shared all information it had rapidly and transparently with the world, and advised Member States on the basis of the best available evidence,” the agency said.
“WHO recommended the use of masks, vaccines and physical distancing, but at no stage recommended mask mandates, vaccine mandates or lockdowns,” it added.
“We supported sovereign governments to make decisions they believed were in the best interests of their people, but the decisions were theirs.”
- Withdrawal ‘raises issues’ -
The row came as Washington struggled to dislodge itself from the WHO, a year after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to that effect.
The one-year withdrawal process reached completion on Thursday, but Kennedy and Rubio regretted in their statement that the UN health agency had “not approved our withdrawal and, in fact, claims that we owe it compensation.”
WHO has highlighted that when Washington joined the organization in 1948, it reserved the right to withdraw, as long as it gave one year’s notice and had met “its financial obligations to the organization in full for the current fiscal year.”
But Washington has not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, and is behind around $260 million.
“The notification of withdrawal raises issues,” WHO said Saturday, adding that the topic would be examined during WHO’s Executive Board meeting next month and by the annual World Health Assembly meeting in May.
“We hope the US will return to active participation in WHO in the future,” Tedros said Saturday.
“Meanwhile, WHO remains steadfastly committed to working with all countries in pursuit of its core mission and constitutional mandate: the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental right for all people.”
