Levee fails sparking emergency evacuations in Seattle after a week of torrential rain

16 Dec 2025 • 5:40 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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A levee has failed, sparking urgent evacuations in three south Seattle suburbs.

The emergency comes after a week of heavy rains that triggered a state of emergency in Washington state.

The evacuation order from King County in Washington state covered homes and businesses east of the Green River in parts of Kent, Auburn and Tukwila.

The National Weather Service, meanwhile, issued a flash flood warning covering nearly 47,000 people.

“Conditions are dangerous and access routes may be lost at any time,” the weather service said in a post on X.

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The levee breach followed days of heavy rain and flooding that inundated communities, forced the evacuations of tens of thousands of people and prompted scores of rescues throughout western Washington state.

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