SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures as the snowfall that buried parts of the state began to rapidly melt.
More than 30,000 people were told to leave a valley southeast of Tacoma as authorities warned of heavy flooding.
“This is going to be a memorable flood event,” said Andy Haner, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle.
Firetrucks rolled through Orting, southeast of Tacoma, with loudspeakers advising everyone to leave the town and surrounding valley, home to about 26,000 people. The Puyallup River neared record-high levels.
“They expect the town of Orting to go under water,” Pierce County sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer said.
Throughout the state, 62 highways were closed, including every pass through the Cascade Range.
