A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Rivers in western Washington state are still swelling because of heavy rainfall. Historic flooding forced tens of thousands to evacuate. And more rain is expected today. Here's Scott Greenstone at member station KUOW.
SCOTT GREENSTONE, BYLINE: Two atmospheric rivers, essentially rivers in the sky, have hit Washington state in the last five days. Rivers on the ground, like the Skagit, grew and flooded thousands of homes and roads.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER FLOWING)
GREENSTONE: Helicopters fly overhead, ready to swoop down to help. Hundreds of rescues have taken place. Many areas saw 12 to 16 inches of rainfall in two days. Up high in the mountains, warmer temperatures meant snow turned to water, feeding rivers at their source. Reid Wolcott is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. He says dams filled upstream.
REID WOLCOTT: They're emptying as fast as they can. But there is not a lot of space up there for additional rainfall, which means that we can't hold back that much water.
GREENSTONE: At one point, 100,000 people were told to flee their homes across the state. More than 26,000 remained under evacuation orders Sunday. Authorities aren't reporting any fatalities yet. The town of Sumas, mere feet from the Canadian border, was a brown lake for days. Saturday, waters receded enough, the main road reopened.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)
GREENSTONE: FEMA estimates an inch of water can cause $25,000 of damage. Ryan Wittig's home saw 12 inches of water. Volunteers helped him tear out wet insulation and carry out appliances.
RYAN WITTIG: Our new gas oven. As you see, water draining out of it as they have it tilted. And it was ruined.
GREENSTONE: Floods are becoming more common here. Thirty days after Wittig's family moved into this house in 2021, a different flood forced them to spend years in a camper outback while rebuilding. Wittig is a contractor who was working construction on a local diner before this flood. He said, with money tight, Christmas is postponed this year.
WITTIG: So we've had about a year and a half in the house since the last flood, technically.
GREENSTONE: With heavy wind and rain in the forecast ahead, Sumas is taking a breath and hoping for the best. Dams and levees across the region are being reinforced with rock and gravel.
For NPR News, I'm Scott Greenstone in Sumas.
(SOUNDBITE OF ASTRONAUTS' "DEATH FROM THE STARS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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