WA flood dangers are not over as more rain in the forecast, officials warn

MOUNT VERNON — A break in the rain has dialed back the immediate threat of swollen rivers, but state and federal officials warned tougher days may still be ahead.

“We’re not out of the woods,” said Reid Wolcott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, at a news briefing Saturday in Mount Vernon with Gov. Bob Ferguson and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

Wolcott and others warned that the current dry spell will give way to another storm system in the next couple days, bringing 4 to 7 inches of rain in the mountains and winds that could reach 50 miles per hour or more and sending river levels back up to flood stages.

While such winds might not normally be a problem, Wolcott noted the ground is already saturated in many areas. “Soils are extremely loose. It does not take 50 miles an hour winds to knock over trees, cause power outages, fall onto vehicles,” he said.

The emergency declaration signed by President Donald Trump unlocked short-term help from FEMA, but it remains unknown whether the federal government will approve longer term support for rebuilding infrastructure or aiding individual homeowners. That will happen later, after the state submits a detailed application.

“As great as this sunny day is, some of the hardest times are coming,” said Murray at the briefing, held by a flood wall that kept the Skagit River from flooding that could have threatened downtown Mount Vernon.

Murray helped obtain federal money to build the 1.4 mile wall completed in 2018. Without, it, local leaders said this week’s flooding could have been worse.

“The wall behind us changed everything,” said Mount Vernon Mayor Peter Donovan said.