Blocked, flooded roads and landslide risks in Western Washington as rain continues to hit the region
As of Tuesday morning, there were around 9 different streets in Kent with some level of standing water. Kent officials asked drivers to use alternate routes.
A portion of the parking lot and nearby field by Mill Creek Middle School in Kent was flooded. Other areas were even worse earlier in the day.
At the intersection of 81st and 196th Q13 News witnessed a semi getting stuck. A tow truck driver wading through almost waist-deep water had to help get the semi-truck out of there.
East James Street was also a problem area. The street floods every time a lot of rain falls that the city of Kent created a pumping station nearby. The station is supposed to collect water and pump it back into the Green River. But due to the volume of rain this month, the pumping station is not enough to keep the water at bay. Although the Green River was not flooding as of Tuesday night, it is higher than usual causing the streets to pool with water. As of Tuesday night most of the roads that were shut down in the morning were opened back up.
But the rain also started falling again hard Tuesday night meaning the danger for flooding is not over.
Heavy rain and saturated soil is increasing the threat for landslides across Western Washington.
WSDOT crews had to shut down SR 106 Monday morning for a couple hours to clear debris from a landslide near Union.
Many roads were closed in Shelton due to flooding and standing water. The Mason County Sheriff's Office is urging residents to follow road closure signs and never drive through a flooded road. On roads like Bourgault Rd West in Shelton, the depth of standing water was about 2 feet deep which is enough to sweep away most vehicles. Road visibility also disappears during flooding which can lead cars off the road.
Most of the flooding is near the Skokomish River where moderate flooding is occurring, so there's a lot of standing water near riverbanks and nearby roads. Even some homes and parks are flooded.
The flood and landslide threat will continue through at least Wednesday.