Flooding in Northwest USA by Rob McElwee
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in Washington State after floods inundated neighbourhoods and roadways.
Melting snow and ice from rising temperatures, combined with recent torrential rain has flooded roads, swelled rivers and triggered mudslides cutting off millions of residents from the rest of the country. Some of the worst flooding has occurred in west Washington where around 178mm (7 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours near Marblemount in the Cascade foothills.
The main highway between Seattle and Portland in Oregon was closed due to flooding and several mountain routes have been shut from high avalanche risk. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings across western Washington State as river levels in the vicinity remain high and pose a threat of bursting their banks as snow continues to melt continues through Friday.
The rain has begun to ease across the northwestern corner of the country and forecasters expect some drier weather today and over the next few days, allowing some respite for the clean up operations.
