Thousands of Americans are under a life-threatening flash flood warning after a dam failed in Washington on Monday.
County dispatch reported the breach of the Green River Levee, south of Seattle, prompting the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue an alert at 11.51am PT.
A dozen counties, including Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston and Whatcom, should brace for flooding over the next several days.
These counties cover much of the Puget Sound region and the Olympic Peninsula, placing thousands of residents on high alert.
The NWS urged locals to move to higher ground immediately, warning: ‘Turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles.’
Residents and businesses east of the Green River in the Orillia area in Tukwila, Renton and Kent are under a Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation notice. People in that area should go north or south, officials said.
The NWS said over 46,000 people could be impacted, along with two schools and one hospital.
Officials believe the levee failure is tied to days of intense rainfall, with another round of heavy rain expected Monday that could bring up to 12 inches in some areas.
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The NWS said flash flooding is already underway and described the damage threat as ‘considerable.’
‘In coordination with King County, we have issued a FLASH FLOOD WARNING for a levee breach in Tukwila, WA, near Todd Blvd. Water is likely moving north toward I-405,’ the agency said in a post on X.
According to KIRO 7, about 1,100 residents received emergency notifications urging them to move to higher ground.
The region is also being impacted by a Pineapple Express, a storm system carrying warm, moisture-laden air from near Hawaii.
AccuWeather meteorologists said steady rain will focus on higher terrain, particularly the Olympic Mountains, Coastal Range and Cascades, with two to four inches expected and a Local StormMax™ of 12 inches on windward slopes.
Additional rainfall on already saturated ground raises the risk of mudslides and worsening runoff through midweek.
Multiple rivers in western Washington are already experiencing minor to moderate flooding, with forecasts calling for further rises.
‘Several inches of additional rain this week, on top of last week’s totals, can lead to renewed major flooding,’ AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Duffus said, ‘including on rivers that recently crested at record levels.’
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He added that rivers may take several days to crest even after the rain tapers off.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said: ‘Expect multiple, rapid rounds of moderate to major flooding of the short-run rivers in the higher and intermediate elevations of the Cascades this week.
‘Flooding in the higher elevations can occur in a matter of a few hours. However, where these rivers reach lower, flatter terrain just above sea level, moderate to major flooding can be delayed and longer-lasting and perhaps up to a few days. Multiple crests are likely.’
An atmospheric river is a long, narrow tract of the atmosphere that gathers moisture from the tropics and sweeps it toward the poles.
The Pineapple Express is a well-known example, originating in the tropical Pacific near Hawaii.
Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli of WFLA-TV (Tampa Bay) warned on X that the storm could deliver ‘pockets of 12–18 inches of rain and flash flooding’ across the West Coast over the next two weeks.
Residents should remain vigilant through the week, as saturated ground and rising rivers will prolong the risk of floods and landslides even after the storm moves on.
