Washington state contends with devastating flooding as Midwest braces for arctic blast

A blast of Arctic air is blowing south from Canada and spreading across parts of the northern United States, while residents in the Pacific Northwest brace for possible mudslides and levee failures from floodwaters that are expected to be slow to recede.

Catastrophic floods forced thousands of people to be evacuatedincluding Eddie Wicks and his wife, who live among sunflowers and Christmas trees on a farm in Washington state next to the Snoqualmie River. As they moved their two donkeys to higher ground and their eight goats to their outdoor kitchen, the water began to rise much faster than anything they had experienced before.

As water engulfed their home Thursday afternoon, deputies from the King County Sheriff’s Office’s Marine Rescue Dive Unit were able to rescue them and their dog by taking them on a boat a half-mile across their field, which had been turned into a lake. The rescue was filmed.

In Snohomish County, Washington, north of Seattle, emergency managers led federal, state and local officials on a tour of devastated sites Saturday.

“It’s clear that thousands and thousands of Washingtonians and communities across our state are opting out, and it’s going to be a difficult process,” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said.

“It’s going to be expensive,” he said. “It’s going to take time, and it’s going to be potentially dangerous at times. So I think we’re seeing here in Monroe what we’re going to see all over the state, and that’s what we’re focused on right now.”

Freezing temperatures are coming to the Midwest

As the Pacific Northwest begins to recover from the deluge, a separate weather system is already bringing dangerous wind chill values ​​— the combination of cold air and wind temperatures — to parts of the Upper Midwest.

Shortly before noon Saturday, it was minus 12 degrees Fahrenheit in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where the wind chill value meant it was minus 33 F, the National Weather Service said.

For big cities like Minneapolis And Chicagothe coldest temperatures were expected late Saturday night into Sunday morning. In the Minneapolis area, low temperatures are expected to drop to around minus 15 F early Sunday morning. Lows in the Chicago area are expected to be around 1 F by Sunday morning, the weather service said.

The Arctic air mass is expected to continue moving south and east over the weekend, expanding into the southern states by Sunday.

The National Weather Service issued cold weather advisories Saturday that extended as far south as Montgomery, the Alabama state capital, where temperatures Sunday night through Monday morning are expected to drop to around 22 F. To the east, minimums in Savannah, Ga., are expected to drop to around 24 F during the same period.

Water levels will remain high in Washington state for several days, officials say

The cold weather freezing much of the country comes as residents in the Pacific Northwest endure more misery after several days of flooding. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate area towns as an unusually strong atmospheric river dumped a foot or more of rain in parts of western and central Washington for several days and swelled rivers, flooding communities and prompting dramatic rescues from rooftops and vehicles.

Many animals were also evacuated as waters raged over pastures, barns and farmland. At the height of the evacuations, about 170 horses, 140 chickens and 90 goats rescued from floodwaters were being cared for at a county park north of Seattle, said Kara Underwood, Snohomish County parks division director. Most of those animals were still in the park Saturday, she said.

Record floodwaters are expected to continue to slowly recede Saturday, but authorities warn that waters will remain high for days and there is still a risk of levee failures or mudslides. There is also the threat of further rain forecast for Sunday. Authorities carried out dozens of water rescues as debris and mudslides closed highways and raging torrents swept away roads and bridges.