Second levee fails in Washington, forcing more evacuations, as atmospheric river renews flood threat
By Meteorologists Mary Gilbert and Chris Dolce
(CNN) — A second levee failed just outside of Seattle in western Washington as rivers once again surge from more atmospheric river-fueled rain.
Precautionary evacuations were ordered for around 1,300 people in Pacific, Washington, Tuesday morning due to the levee breach along the White River, King County emergency management told CNN. The river hit major flood stage, the most severe level, Monday morning, but has since fallen.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for part of the city, located nearly 30 miles south of Seattle. It said barriers called HESCOs were failing along the river and leaking water.
Crews were “en route with sand to mitigate the area,” King County emergency management said.
This follows a breach on the Desimone levee near the city of Tukwila along the Green River early Monday afternoon, just east of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in western Washington.
The levee is meant to reduce flood risks to more than 30,000 people in Tukwila, Kent and Renton. A flash flood warning was issued for more than 45,000 people in the affected area.
As of Monday evening, crews had contained the flood threat along the Green River and completed a temporary repair to the levee. The National Weather Service canceled the flash flood warning just after 5:00 p.m. local time.
Last week, crews installed an “emergency flood fighting measure” called a seepage blanket to “help stabilize” the important levee, according to the King County Department of Natural Resources.
The Green River near Tukwila has risen about 15 feet over the past week because of multiple rounds of torrential rainfall from an earlier atmospheric river. When the levee breached, the river’s water level was just under 22 feet – higher than it’s been in the past 60 years.
The state is still recovering from historic flooding across its western reaches after heavy rain from that first atmospheric river sent rivers to record-breaking levels last week.
More rain is coming
Monday’s storm drenched parts of Washington, Oregon and far northwestern California. Rivers were once again on the rise and soaking rain in the mountains was also ramping up landslide threats.
A second, colder atmospheric river will bring periods of additional rain on Tuesday through Wednesday, keeping rivers elevated and slowing recovery from last week’s flooding. It will also usher in stronger winds that could down trees and power lines.
A third storm is likely to hit the region Thursday. Details are still coming into focus, but even more rain, wind and high elevation snow is possible through the end of the week.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Andy Rose and Ritu Prasad and CNN Meteorologists Briana Waxman and Brandon Miller contributed to this report.
