Monroe, Washington– A wave of arctic air swept south from Canada and spread to parts of the northern United States, as residents of the Pacific Northwest braced for the possibility of mudslides and levee collapses caused by floodwaters that are expected to be slow to recede.
the Catastrophic floods The hurricane forced thousands of people to evacuate, including Eddie Weeks 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 donkeys to higher ground and their eight goats to their outdoor kitchen, the water began to rise much faster than anything they had seen before.
When water engulfed their home Thursday afternoon, deputies from the King County Sheriff’s Office Marine Rescue Dive Unit were able to rescue them and their dog, transporting them by boat a half-mile (800 meters) across their field, which had turned into a lake. Rescue It was captured on video.
Meteorologists said another round of rain and wind awaited the area late Sunday.
“The bottom line at this point is we’re not done yet despite the sunny conditions we’re seeing in Western Washington at this point,” said Reed Wolcott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
“There is still more to come in terms of wind, rain and flooding,” he said. “Washingtonians need to prepare for additional impacts, additional flooding, tree damage, power outages, etc.”
He added that the high winds expected at the end of the weekend and first part of the week are a concern because the ground is so saturated, putting trees at risk of collapsing.
In Snohomish County, Washington, north of Seattle, emergency officials on Saturday led federal, state and local officials on a tour of the devastation.
“Obviously, thousands and thousands of Washingtonians and communities across our state are drilling, and this is going to be a difficult process,” Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said.
“It’s going to be expensive,” he said. “It’s going to take a long time, and it’s probably going to be dangerous at times. So I think what we’re seeing here in Monroe is what we’re going to see across the state, and that’s what we’re focused on right now.”
As the Pacific Northwest begins to recover from the deluge, a separate weather system has already brought dangerous wind chill values — a combination of cold air temperatures and wind — to parts of the upper Midwest.
Shortly before noon Saturday, the temperature was 12 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 24 degrees Celsius) in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where the wind chill value meant the temperature was as high as 33 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 36 degrees Celsius), the National Weather Service said.
For major cities like Minneapolis and Chicago, the coldest temperatures were expected late Saturday night into Sunday morning. In the Minneapolis area, low temperatures are expected to drop to around minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 26 degrees Celsius) by early Sunday morning. Low temperatures in the Chicago area are expected to reach about 1 degree Fahrenheit (minus 17 degrees Celsius) by early Sunday, the weather service said.
The Arctic air mass is expected to continue moving south and east over the weekend, extending into the southern states by Sunday.
The National Weather Service on Saturday issued cold weather advisories that extended as far south as Alabama’s capital city of Montgomery, where temperatures late Sunday night into Monday morning were expected to drop to about 22 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 6 degrees Celsius). To the east, low temperatures in Savannah, Georgia, are expected to drop to about 24 F (minus 4 C) during the same time period.
Freezing cold weather is coming to much of the country as Pacific Northwest residents experience more misery after several days of flooding. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate cities in the region as they were unusually strong Atmospheric river The hurricane dumped 30 centimeters or more of rain on parts of western and central Washington over several days, swelling rivers, submerging communities and prompting massive rescues from rooftops and vehicles.
Many animals were also evacuated as water swept through horse pastures, barns and farmland. At the height of the evacuations, approximately 170 horses, 140 chickens and 90 goats rescued from floodwaters were being cared for in the North Seattle County park, said Kara Underwood, director of the Snohomish County Parks Department. Most of those animals were still in the park on Saturday, she said.
Record flood waters It slowly receded on Saturday, but authorities warned that the waters would remain high for several days, and that there was still a risk that dams could collapse or mudslide. There is also a risk of more rain on Sunday. Officials conducted dozens of water rescues as debris and mudslides closed highways and torrential floods washed away roads and bridges.
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Associated Press writers Haley Golden in Seattle and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed.