Washington State Flooding

This past week, catastrophic flooding has inundated the Pacific Northwest, especially Washington state. Due to atmospheric rivers (narrow, long band in the atmosphere that transports substantial amounts of water vapor) the rain quickly filled up rivers and caused flooding starting somewhere between Wednesday and Thursday (12/10-12/11). The flooding started from north of Oregon through Washington and continued into British Columbia, the Canadian Province. The flooding has caused multiple mudslides as well as tearing homes. There have been dozens of rescue missions, from rooftops of homes and submerged vehicles. Authorities have closed many roads and announced evacuation warnings for almost 100,000 people because of the emergency. The flood waters were expected to slow down, but authorities say that it will remain high for days as there is also a threat of expected rainfall this Sunday. From the news source The Guardian, “Bob Ferguson, the governor of Washington, on Friday morning warned that flooding “remains extremely unpredictable” and rivers were expected to continue to rise.” These types of storms are not completely uncommon in the US Pacific Coast, but meteorologists say that they will likely become more frequent and extreme if global warming and the human-caused climate crisis continues at its current rate (The Guardian).