According to the latest weather forecast on December 11, the Northwest Pacific region is suffering an unprecedented severe natural disaster. A series of extreme weather patterns carrying "athospheric rivers" have continuously made landfall, pouring in huge amounts of rain exceeding 335mm in just a few days.
Given the complicated developments of the weather, hydrometeorological experts have issued red warnings about widespread danger, saying that this flood has not shown any signs of ending.
Recorded at the scene showed the brutal impact of this natural disaster. Water levels from major rivers simultaneously rose over the banks, submerging a series of areas of cultivated land, houses and means of transportation.
In major cities like Seattle, traffic is completely paralyzed; rescue forces have been forced to continuously deploy emergency response plans for people trapped in cars in floodwaters or in distress due to slippery roads.
According to the local government, all residents in Orting town had to evacuate on the afternoon of December 10 due to rising water levels that directly threatened their lives.
In what was described as a "unprecedented" situation, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson has officially announced raising the alert level of the Emergency Activities Center to Level 1. This is the highest on the state's disaster scale, indicating the severity of the incident.
Ferguson affirmed that the US National Guard has been put into combat readiness to support isolated areas. At the same time, the local Department of Education also announced the closure of a series of schools to ensure absolute safety for students.
According to statistics from the US National Weather Service (NWS), the scale of this flood has broken many historical records. As of the evening of December 9, the measuring station at Swift Creek recorded new record rainfall. In the Grays River, the peak flood level has exceeded 10m, completely breaking the old record set in 2007.
Hydrological forecast models also show that many other river basins such as Skagit and Snohomish will continue to break historical flood levels in the next 24 to 48 hours, with the increase expected to be 1m higher than the old flood peak.
Regarding weather developments in the coming days, experts say that there may be a short lull or a low pressure area moving slightly north this weekend.
However, the weather forecast warns people not to be subjective. The storm's path is expected to move south again early next week, bringing heavy rains back. This increases the risk of making the already disastrous flooding situation worse in the following days.
