Skagit County flooding damages several homes, prompts rescues

SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — Monica Mendez stands on her back deck and looks out at the feet of water in her backyard.

“The water was coming so fast everything was floating, like, so high, so fast,” she recalled about the early morning wake-up call. Her son, who was sleeping downstairs, woke her up to tell her water was rushing in.

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Mendez said she’s lived next to the Gages Slough for 15 years and never had a problem, until now.

“No puddles or anything of water anywhere,” she said.

The Burlington Police Department and Skagit County Emergency management issued a city-wide evacuation this morning, after initial reports that the Slough, part of the Skagit River watershed, has jumped its banks. The City has nearly 10,000 residents.

By mid-morning, that had been rescinded to a more confined, yet densely residential part of the city. Skagit County did not say specifically what led to the flooding, although Senator Maria Cantwell said in an afternoon press conference that water went over the levees. The County’s Emergency Management department did not return a call or email.

First responders were also dealing with cars stranded on roadways, including Highway 20 between Sedro Woolley and Burlington. Late Friday, water rescuers responded to a call from a young woman who said she was stuck in overflow from the Skagit River.

Mendez said she’s not sure how or when any of the water will be cleaned up.

“I think it’s going to take days or maybe weeks,” she said.