Flood — Snohomish, Washington

2009-01-07 to 2009-01-10 · near Gold Bar, Snohomish, Washington

Event narrative

More than 50 roads in the county were flooded and about 40 were closed, including Highway 9. Highway 530 was closed in multiple locations. Schools in the Stanwood-Camano district were closed for 2 days. Most of Stanwood flooded, even businesses that hadn't flooded in 25 years. Many people were able to evacuate animals before the waters rose, however dozens had to leave via boat. Nearly 500 homes were flooded. Flood waters blew a hole in a dike on Ebey Island.

Wider weather episode

Rainfall of 8-20 inches in the mountains and 1 to 9 inches in the lowlands occurred from Jan 6th through 8th. Flooding was widespread over much of Western Washington. Record flooding occurred on the Snoqualmie, Tolt, and North Fork Stillaguamish Rivers. Near record flooding occurred on the Snohomish, Newaukum, and Skookumchuck Rivers. Major flooding occurred on 18 rivers and 21 forecast points. Surveys found an estimated 497 residences that were destroyed or suffered major damage, and another 2,340 residences that needed repairs. Over 44,000 people were evacuated as a result of rising or high water as well as landslides.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (47.8500, -121.7000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 149823. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.