Skykomish River flooding swamps homes, shuts down 203 outside Monroe, WA
Monroe, wash. - The Skykomish River began flooding over its banks, forcing evacuations in the Sultan area Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Video from a viewer on TikTok shows a view off of Mann Road in Sultan, an area overcome by floodwater.
It’s in the same area where Sultan Police said residents had to get airlifted from their homes. Sultan Police posted an image of Snohawk 10 on social media, stating that it was the helicopter that was flying people out.
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Luke Hilt, who lives outside of Monroe, says his neighbors off of 203 in Snohomish County were getting flooded out Wednesday night. One of the homes is shown below.
Flooding also forced the closure of 203 near Ben Howard Rd in the area of Falling Water Gardens and Overlook Coffee. The closure forced FOX 13 crews to turn around as the road was completely closed. Law enforcement was manning the closure for a time.
Meantime, to the south, the Snoqualmie River near Carnation rose steadily off of Northeast Carnation Farm Road, carrying big logs and at times entire trees.
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The Tolt River was also expected to crest Wednesday night. Many were forced to take detours home as roads flooded out or were impacted by landslides or falling trees.
"I decided to take the scenic route out to the valley, and it was blocked out at route 18 on I-90 because I 90 is out right now. It’s been really intense rain driving back through," said Travis Dreyfoos, a Duvall resident.
Eastside Fire & Rescue spokesperson Catherine Imboden says rescue crews in Carnation and Duvall and Fall City were helping people Wednesday in dangerous conditions. She says their aid car was almost caught up in a landslide on I-90 around mile marker 30.
She provided some of the pictures of the damage from the landslide below.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt in that slide. Imboden doesn’t expect it to be the last landslide they encounter before the weather event is over.
Water rescues also kept the team busy as well Wednesday. She provided pictures of some of the rescues below.
She says one of their first calls was to help residents in North Bend.
"We helped to evacuate the Pickering Apartments up there. Someone called in and said the water was up to their knees in that apartment, pets people," Catherine Imboden, Public Information Officer with Eastside Fire and Rescue.
Imboden says they expect the rising water to slowly creep down the river, and they expect rivers to swell in different communities as the night goes on.
The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle.