One Person Missing, 50K Still Without Power After Flooding and Mudslides Hit Pacific NW

By Alyse Messmer On 11/16/21 at 1:48 PM EST

U.S. Washington state Flooding Power outage

Heavy rain, flooding and mudslides in Washington are leaving cities in turmoil with evacuation warnings, power outages and one person missing in the floodwaters, the Associated Press reported.

According to authorities, one person was still missing Tuesday after being seen in floodwaters clinging to a tree in the city of Bellingham. Evacuations have been ordered in multiple areas as floodwaters have swamped homes and businesses. Deputies have been evacuating stranded residents as the flooding continues.

Governor Jay Inslee declared a severe weather state of emergency in 14 counties and said the state Emergency Management Division, with support from the Washington National Guard, would coordinate the response.

Nearly 50,000 Washington state electrical customers had no power Tuesday, less than at the height of the storm Monday when nearly 158,000 homes were without power.

Due to mudslides and floods, the main north-south interstate highway near the Canadian border was closed. Schools in the cities such as Bellingham were closed Monday and Tuesday.

Skagit County officials are comparing the flooding to 2009, when the Skagit and Samish rivers overflowed and damaged homes, farms and infrastructure. Those in Skagit County are watching the swollen Skagit River continue to rise and are warned to expect severe flooding and possible evacuation.

In the town of Hamilton about 80 miles northeast of Seattle, cars and trailers were parked outside the Red Cross evacuation site at Hamilton Baptist Church, where dozens of residents are waiting out the storm, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.

Forecasters were predicting drier conditions on Tuesday, but the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for several rivers around western Washington.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

Washington State Flooding — Heavy rain, flooding and mudslides in Washington are leaving cities in turmoil with evacuation warnings, power outages and one person missing in the floodwaters. Above, a man operates a personal watercraft in view of a home cut off by rising water from the Skagit River on November 15, 2021, in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

The rains caused by an atmospheric river—a huge plume of moisture extending over the Pacific and into Washington and Oregon—was easing and road crews managed to reopen southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Bellingham, Washington. But the highway's northbound lanes were still closed in the area.

And just south of the Canadian border in the community of Sumas, Washington, officials said city hall was flooded in a soaking that reminded people of severe floods in 1990.

Bellingham's record rainfall on Sunday totaled 2.78 inches (7 centimeters), crushing the prior daily record from 1998 of 0.88 inches (2.2 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service. Another 1.89 inches (4.8 centimeters) poured down on Bellingham on Monday.

West of Seattle on the Olympic Peninsula, several highways were partially closed and the U.S. Coast Guard helped local authorities evacuate about 10 people near the town of Forks. In nearby Quillayute, a daily record rainfall of 4.01 inches (10 centimeters) was set on Monday.