A levee breach in a suburb of Seattle prompted officials to issue emergency evacuations Monday for businesses and residents in the area in the area near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
As AccuWeather reports, the evacuation warning was issued at 11:51 a.m. PST in Tukwila, Washington, and canceled around 5:30 p.m. Monday. Traffic backed up on local highways as around 500 people tried to evacuate the area. Crews used sandbags to temporarily plug the breach until a long-term fix can be put in place. “The levee was breached and caused flooding behind Rainier Industries,” King County Executive Girmay Zahilay said, adding that no one was injured.
Drone video by the King County Sheriff’s Office shows a breach in the Desimone Levee, a key line of defense against flooding for more than 30,000 people. In the video, crews are using heavy equipment as water from the Green River creeps dangerously close to nearby buildings.
At 7:30 p.m., the evacuation notice was lifted after the Desimone Levee was repaired, but the area remains in a “Get Set Advisory” Tuesday morning, meaning that residents should not let their guard down. “I never thought we would see something like this. I watched New Orleans and other places, but never thought it would happen to our state. It’s sad,” local resident Gaurav Sood told a local TV station.
A second breach, this time along the White River, triggered precautionary evacuations for about 1,300 people in Pacific, Washington at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
While it’s not unusual for atmospheric rivers to make themselves know during December in the Pacific Northwest, this year’s atmospheric river onslaught has been catastrophic due to the river levees breaching and massive widespread flooding in the region.
And it’s not over. Another round of heavy rain is forecast for Washington and Oregon this week.
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