Residents in the Pacific Northwest of the US and Canada are bracing for what could be record setting floods as an atmospheric river dumps heavy rain on already swollen rivers.
The US National Weather Service warns that catastrophic flooding is possible in the states of Oregon and Washington along the Skagit and Snohomish rivers.
In Canada, major highways to Vancouver have been closed because of flooding, debris and the risk of avalanches.
There are evacuation orders in place for thousands of people in the US and Canada, and authorities have that warned more rain is on the way on Thursday.
In the US, the governor of Washington state, Bob Ferguson, declared a statewide emergency on Wednesday and estimated 100,000 residents could soon face evacuation orders.
The emergency declaration warned that continued rain and snow at mountain elevations would exacerbate flooding conditions. Supply chains and transportation could be severely impacted, the declaration added.
Skagit County, a major agricultural area north of Seattle, has issued an immediate evacuation order to residents who live on the floodplain.
Some 75,000 people would be evacuated from low-lying areas on Skagit River, the director of the Washington Military Department’s Emergency Management Division, Robert Ezelle, told reporters on Wednesday.
Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said in an overnight social media post that they had rescued “multiple” people by helicopter after they became trapped in their homes in Sultan, Washington, a community roughly 40 miles (65km) northeast of Seattle.
The sheriff’s office warned residents on Thursday morning that the eastern region of the county is most affected after the Skykomish River crested above 24ft (7m) overnight – just shy of a record.
They said the Snohomish River is also experiencing major flooding and “dancing with records” as water laps against a local flood wall.
King county and Snohomish county officials have said there are multiple closures on state and local roads with more likely on Thursday.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s office in an video post on Wednesday said their swiftwater team had to rescue three people from an RV park on Orting, a community about 42 miles south of Seattle. Multiple roads are also closed in that county.
ReutersAcross the border in Canada’s British Columbia, there are evacuation orders in place for the communities of Tulameen and Eastgate, and several other areas.
The City of Abbotsford ordered urgent evacuations for 371 properties at 23:00 local time on Wednesday (07:00 GMT on Thursday).
City officials said the Nooksack River is expected to overflow its banks early on Thursday, and said they anticipate flooding though not as severe as in the province in 2021, when it caused significant damage and five deaths.
All major highways to the Lower Mainland are now closed, according to the travel information website Drive BC.
The US-Canada Sumas Border crossing is also closed in both directions.
The entire region, spanning parts of both the US and Canada, has received torrential rain from an atmospheric river, which is a phenomenon where water evaporates into the air and is carried by the wind and forms long currents that surge through the sky like rivers flow on land.
The heaviest rainfall is expected to subside by Thursday afternoon, but the water will continue to work its way into rivers.
Another storm is expected on Sunday.
