More than 10 million Americans were placed under a significant flood watch Tuesday as an atmospheric river deluges the Pacific Northwest.
At least one person has reportedly been killed as a result of excessive flooding throughout western Washington’s river systems, many of which have burst their banks and are overflowing through neighborhoods, AccuWeather said on social media. The source of the flooding is an atmospheric river — a long band of moisture within the atmosphere — brought about by unseasonably warm weather, CBS News stated.
No passenger trains ran between Seattle and Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday, and won’t be restarted until at least Thursday because of a landslide, Amtrak told CBS. The National Weather Service also issued flood warnings across the region.
Western Washington rivers overflow and flood neighborhoods as an atmospheric river soaks the Pacific Northwest. At least one person has been killed. pic.twitter.com/XDZd5Fat7t
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) December 5, 2023
Footage shared on social media revealed the chaos in places like Granite Falls, Washington, where a torrent of water carved new pathways through neighborhoods. (RELATED: The Truth Behind A Solar-Storm Apocalypse Conspiracy Theory Is Kinda Scary)
Risks of rockfalls, more landslides and mudslides, as well as more rain are anticipated to last through at least the weekend, if not longer, CBS Mornings forecast. This “messy” weather will eventually turn into a series of potentially major storm systems throughout the central U.S., bringing heavy rain across the continent, all the way to the Atlantic coast.