Hundreds of National Guard soldiers were deployed to stack sandbags Thursday morning to hold back fierce floodwaters that forced more than 100,000 people in western Washington to evacuate.

Several days of heavy rain pushed waterways in the region to record levels, creating potentially deadly conditions along a series of rivers and tributaries between Tacoma, Washington, and the U.S.-Canada border.

Officials were especially concerned about the Skagit and Snohomish rivers, which were rising Thursday and expected to crest at record levels by Friday. But it could be days before the full extent of damage was known. Leaders in the Skagit Valley, roughly halfway between Seattle and the Canadian border, ordered everyone within the 100-year flood plain to evacuate.

“You can stand downtown here and just see whole Doug firs and cottonwood trees coming down the river, like a freight train on the river,” said James Eichner, who sought higher ground in downtown Monroe, Washington, early Thursday as floodwaters rose at the Snohomish River farm where he works. “It’s just a giant steamroller.”

No significant injuries have been reported, though the worst of the flooding is still to come in many places.

“We’re making a strong push to get the word out that this is extremely dangerous,” said Karina Shagren, communications director for the Washington Military Department. “People don’t want to leave their homes, but these are historic levels.”

Skagit County officials elevated their evacuation warnings issued Wednesday to what they described as mandatory “level three — go” orders for the 100-year flood plain overnight, urging residents: “Do not wait.” The Los Angeles fires in January forced mandatory evacuation orders for 180,000 people in a much more heavily populated area.

One hundred soldiers and airmen with the Washington National Guard were helping with sandbagging efforts around Marysville, Washington, Shagren said, and another 200 were on their way. Government forecasters warned of possible flash floods through late Friday as emergency management workers watched to see if levees along several rivers would hold.

Flooding closed schools and shut down public transit in many communities in King, Skagit and Snohomish counties, and flooded roads and washouts made travel treacherous. Police and firefighters repeatedly warned residents not to drive through standing water.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Anna Griffin and Amy Graff/Grant Hindsley
c. 2025 The New York Times Company