Green River levee fails; flash flood warning ends in Tukwila

TUKWILA, Wash. – The swollen and debris-filled Green River tore a hole Monday in a heavily saturated and previously damaged section of King County’s levee system near Tukwila, forcing broad evacuations and emergency repairs.

Waters breached the Desimone levee around 11:30 a.m., and flooded east of the earthen structure into a heavily commercial and industrial area. King County emergency officials warned of “life threatening flash flooding” for the nearby low-lying area of more than 46,000 residents.

No injuries were reported as a result of the breach, King County officials said in an afternoon news conference. They quickly refined their broad initial concerns to an area of about 1,100 people, who were urged to evacuate. By 6:30 p.m., the county’s flash flood warning ended.

Repairs were underway for the breached levee and were expected to be done Monday evening, said John Taylor, director of the county’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks. But the risk isn’t over. Whole sections of the levees were soaked through after more than a week of heavy rain and high river levels. Already other spots were seeing water seeping through, and county officials expected to monitor the structure through the coming days, with even more rain in the forecast.

“As rain returns and water levels continue to rise and change in unpredictable ways, the most important action that residents can take is to please listen to experts,” said new King County Executive Girmay Zahilay. “Listen to first responders and listen to law enforcement.”

Those who don’t heed warnings put themselves at risk and put emergency responders at risk, Zahilay said.

Water began seeping through this section of the levee (and several other sections) late last week, Taylor said. The levees in the area tend to be 5 to 10 feet tall, according to a King County Flood Control District report. Crews installed a so-called “seepage blanket” and were scheduled to shore up that temporary fix on Monday when the river broke through.

Workers on the scene plugged the hole with multiple large, nylon bags designed for the purpose, Taylor said. They’re keeping close watch over other sections of the levee to guard against similar breaches.

A large part of the problem, Taylor said, is the continued saturation of the earthen levees, which don’t typically have to hold back so much water for so long.

Boeing evacuated its Kent facility and parts of its Tukwila plant Monday, according to an update on an employee hotline at 5 p.m. It expects to resume operations in Kent for the first shift Tuesday.

Parts of the Tukwila center, including the Duwamish corridor near Boeing Field, remained open. The customer experience center closed.

The company’s Renton and Auburn facilities were not affected by the flooding, the employee message said.

“Employees should heed all warnings issued by local emergency management personnel,” the message concluded.

The Vietnamese Martyrs Parish in Tukwila, a few blocks northeast of the levee breach, is surrounded on three sides by the Green River. By Monday evening, the waters had hopped a bank of brush and crept within 10 feet of the Green River Trail, a narrow lip of elevated walkway that also loops around the church.

Le Chau, who works at the church, said: “I’ve never seen it like this,” gesturing toward the fast-moving, murky brown water that had already flooded part of the trail to the north.

Parishioners and workers spent all day Monday moving furniture and computers out of the ground floor of the church, he said.

“I think we will be OK,” he said.

Still, he pointed to a growing puddle in the parking lot, indicating a possible leak under the trail that now serves as a final barrier between the river and the church. The congregation has been worshiping here for over a decade but just finished building the church last year, he said.

Businesses near the breach, like a Taco Time and Starbucks, closed early for the day. Workers at a nearby Amazon Fulfillment Center were sent home early, too.

Through the evacuation zone in Tukwila and Kent, traffic worsened and cars backed up into lengthy lines. Cars drove north along Frager Road as the water crept nearer to the street.

“I’ve never seen it this high,” said Aaron Olsen, who lives near Angle Lake, watching the flood zone from Military Road South.

King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall said her office will be using one helicopter to fly along the rest of the river system to check for vulnerable areas. Drones can also take a closer look at any potential problems, she said.

We’re still not out of the woods, either, said Reid Wolcott, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service. With more rain in the forecast, rivers are going to continue to swell.

“This is one, relatively small event, in the greater disaster that is unfolding across the Pacific Northwest,” Wolcott said.

Last week, all eyes seemed to be focused up north as the Skagit River flooded and threatened to pour over the top of flood walls in Mount Vernon and levees in Burlington. While that river did reach record heights in some places, it fell short of the most dire predictions. Both cities were largely spared widespread and dangerous floods.

Another factor at play, Wolcott said, is the wind. Gusts are expected to reach up to 50 mph. That might not seem like much, but with soaked soils, trees are at risk of collapsing onto homes and cars all across the Puget Sound region.

Anybody looking for more information should visit kcemergency.com, said Brendan McCluskey, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Management.

Tukwila residents west of the Green River should be particularly on the alert. They haven’t been asked to evacuate, but city officials cautioned in a Facebook post that they should be ready to leave if conditions deteriorate further.

Shelter for evacuees is available at the Auburn Community and Event Center and at the Ray of Hope Shelter.

Taylor expressed confidence that the temporary fixes along the levee will hold. The stretch in question was also damaged in the floods of February 2020, according to a blog post from the county Department of Natural Resources and Parks. The seepage blanket in place now will remain until construction on the long-term repair is finished, likely in 2031.

That section has been on King County’s radar for years now. An engineering analysis shows it was also repaired in 1967, 1984 and 2015, as well as at the time of the report in 2019. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers classified the structure’s rating as “minimally acceptable.” To date, the structure is not accredited by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, county spokesperson Christine Russillo confirmed.

Seattle Times reporter Lauren Rosenblatt contributed to this story.