Evacuations have been ordered in Washington state. Officials are warning of a life-threatening flood in Seattle. This comes after historic flooding in the region caused a levee to fail.
On December 15, officials issued a flash flood warning in Tukwila, Washington. Flooding in the area caused the Desimone Levee, which holds the Green River, to fail. The levee failed right before lunch on Monday. Officials warned of a life-threatening flood as a result. The National Weather Service issued a "Go Now" evacuation notice for King County.
"This is a very serious and emerging situation," King County Executive Girmay Zahilay said at a press briefing on Monday."Conditions remain dynamic 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, listen to responders and listen to law enforcement."
Evacuation Order For Flood
The order urged people to "leave immediately." The evacuation order impacted 47,000 people across Kent, Auburn, and Tukwila. NWS Seattle also warned of "life-threatening" conditions near Tukwila as a result of the levee breaking. The organization told residents to "move to higher ground now" and "act quickly to protect your life."
Following the evacuation order, officials began using sandbags to contain water in the area. John Taylor, director of the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, weighed in on the situation.
"We were there because we are monitoring these levees closely," Taylor said. "It's just not typical to have these levees have this much water behind them for this long. They're getting saturated and they're starting to show the effects of that."
According to the spokesperson for the city of Renton, Laura Pettitt, they managed to get the levee breach under control.
"What we understand is that the area is being managed and the breach has been controlled," she said. "However, that's not to say that there wouldn't be future impact with any changing situation."
