Levee breached in Washington
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By David Ryder and Steve Gorman BURLINGTON, Washington, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Residents and emergency crews in towns along the rain-engorged Skagit River in western Washington state braced on Friday for potential levee failures while National Guard troops assisted in evacuations after days of severe flooding in the Pacific Northwest.
Drier weather is coming, but flooding effects are likely to continue for days across portions of western Washington state and northwestern Oregon.
An atmospheric river event that's been slamming the Pacific Northwest with rain is now focused on western Washington.
Washington state residents are bracing for possible mudslides and levee failures from floodwaters that are expected to be slow to recede.
The Skagit River crested at 41.1 feet in Concrete early Thursday and 37.73 feet in Mount Vernon early Friday, flooding communities throughout the valley.
After heavy rains swelled rivers and flooded neighborhoods in northern Washington, residents returned to soggy homes caked in mud. Many tried to salvage what they could.
Cleanup of the Olympic pipeline leak in Burlington has been paused due to flooding, leaving low-level contaminated soil still under investigation, according to the Department of Ecology.
Authorities are going door-to-door in South Prairie, Washington, in Pierce County, urging residents to leave their homes immediately as water rises there. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office previously said that at least 25 people have been rescued in the county since Wednesday, including in South Prairie.