Nooksack, Skagit, Elwha rivers record floods forecast (Bellingham, Forks: city hall, construction)

[rkcarguy]

Just a heads up to those in potentially affected areas, portions of the Nooksack, Skagit, and Elwha rivers are forecast "black and purple", meaning major and record flood levels equal or exceeding our 1990 flood are forecast. Stay safe.
The Skagit is forecast to crest above 38' feet at Mt. Vernon, about 8" higher than the November 1990 record of 37.37'. Just how high is that wall downtown?
The Nooksack is forecast to tie the record from the same 1990 flood at Cedardale/Mt. Baker Highway.
The Elwha is the big one, forecast at nearly 3' over it's previous record of 24.6' set in December 2007.

https://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/rfc/

Link above is a great site that shows all the warnings, river gages, flow charts, forecasts, and the like.

[mayfair]

They've got some construction going on shoring up the levee at the riverwalk north of downtown Mt. Vernon. The river was high Saturday and that was just moderate flood stage. Could be a mess!

[rkcarguy]

I saw where they were beefing up the bank, and they were probably putting the aluminum bars into the flood barrier wall in Mt. Vernon as well. News flow up here is pretty poor, but a Facebook friend shared a post from the City of Sumas that the Nooksack river has once again overcome it's levees near Everson and is flooding north towards Sumas. Waters are due to arrive as soon as 11pm. The Sumas river has also flooded already on the Canadian side and closed HWY 11 and the Sumas border crossing.
Highway 9 is closed, Slater Road, Badger Rd (South of Sumas), and several more. It's going to be ugly.
The Skagit Rivers peak was revised upward from 38' to 39.4' in Mt. Vernon, and over 40' in Concrete. Residents of Hamilton are being urged to evacuate.

[xPlorer48]

We have a decent sized creek that is roaring so loud we can hear it in the house. Our gravel driveway is underwater in parts due to the water overflowing the culvert under the road. It drains the neighbors pasture. The rain has been steady all day with no let up except for increased intensity. This happens every so often but frequently enough I lost count.

[mayfair]

They're now predicting the Skagit to crest at 41 feet, which would go over the temporary flood wall in Mt. Vernon.

[mayfair]

It's been updated to crest at just over 37 feet. Mt. Vernon has declared a state of emergency. The bridge downtown closed to traffic over the river this morning. I-5 into Bellingham is closed for a fallen tree and mudslide.

[rkcarguy]

The amount of flooding taking place is certainly historic. Sumas, WA is in bad shape, their fire chief reached out to the Whatcom County Weather page (FB) asking for help, asking people to launch riverboats/sleds from Badger Rd. and come into town to assist in rescues. The church, city hall, and other places used for shelter and operations during last years flood have now flooded as well and the city's power is out.
The Nooksack River hit a new record high of 149.8' and continues to rise, forecast to just top 150'.
In Bellingham, Iowa St and Meridian St. I-5 interchanges accumulated 2-3' of flood waters and stacked up cars of unsuspecting motorists.

[mayfair]

Sumas looks terrible. Mt. Vernon west of the downtown bridge is now under voluntary evacuation orders. The bridge is estimated to be shut down again at 9 pm when the Skagit River reaches 35 feet. All the schools are closed.

[MechAndy]

I hope and wish all the best for those effected by this storm.
I’m not sure how to help.
Could any of you in the area inform us where a donation would go the furthest to help the locals out?

[happygrrrl]

Hwys. 101 &112 closed both ways on OP. Elwha River bridge is closed. Forks is pretty much cut off, streets flooded. Lots of power outages & trees down. Crazy wind blowing, & then the sun came out for a little while...but it kept raining! I guess that's a sun shower?