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335 stories matching flood
- When the Water Came Up to the Post Office: Floods Cut Seattle’s Rail and Mail Lines
Spring freshets submerged low streets, stalled Great Northern and Northern Pacific trains, and left Seattle business houses waiting days for mail.
- The Cold Snap That Stopped the Floods—and the Tide That Didn’t
A January thaw sent slides and high water across Western Washington, washing out bridges, stalling Great Northern trains, and pushing Salmon Bay into Seattle homes.
- A Valley Drowns Every Spring—and One Farmer Wants a Better Dike
A correspondent warns that the Pend Oreille freshet has wrecked $50,000 worth of Calispel Valley crops—and argues the proposed diking districts are too piecemeal to save the basin.
- The Newport Hardware Man Who Went Through Johnstown — and Kept the River Mud to Prove It
In his store window, E. E. Reid displays a gilded St. George torn from a clock and a rocking chair pulled from the 1889 Johnstown flood — silt still hardened in the crevices — and jokes that he is still selling hardware because the flood only went through him, not over him.
- Calispel Valley Ranchers Move to Dike Out the Pend Oreille
A petition for a new diking district would protect 11,000 acres from annual floods—and add thousands to Stevens County's tax rolls.
- Deforestation and the Cost of Disaster
An editorial reflection on Everett’s regional flooding, linking unchecked industrial logging to the destruction of homes and property.
- The $80,000 Cranberry Bog Behind the Ilwaco Beach
A state commissioner tours Pacific County's cranberry marsh — 1,600 acres, 7,280 bushels shipped to San Francisco, 200 pickers at fifty cents a bushel, and a company openly hoping to replace its Chinese crew with white labor.
- The Great Northwest Flood of 1894
Historic deluges across the Columbia, Fraser, and Skagit river valleys have paralyzed rail travel and left thousands displaced from their homes.
- The Tragedy of Mrs. Flood
A desperate attempt at self-destruction reveals the cycle of domestic abuse occurring in a downtown hotel.
- Dam Break Triggers Flash Flood in Snohomish
A failed dam at Blackman's Lake sent a torrent of water into the heart of town, caving in streets and flooding basements.
- Warm Rain Triggers Slides and Floods Across Puget Sound
A winter warm spell melts mountain snow, sending mudslides across the Great Northern line and flooding the Skagit Delta, stranding passengers and threatening crops with salt water.
- The Great Lake-to-Sound Canal Dream
A century-old proposal to drain swampy lands and connect the Seattle lakes to the Puget Sound, fueled by fears of devastating floods and the need for new shipping channels.
- A mother's desperate search from Minnesota
A Minneapolis woman writes to Seattle police, seeking word of her husband and brother who vanished after reports of a flood in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Brutal Genie of the River Valley
An 1876 editorial reflects on the cyclical devastation of Washington’s river floods and why farmers never seem quite ready for the waters to rise.
- Cloudburst Wrecks Railroad Tracks in the Pilchuck Valley
A cloudburst washed out 100 yards of Lake Shore track at Machias and flooded the Pilchuck Valley.
- The Great Cascade Flood of 1892
A catastrophic flood wipes out bridges, isolates towns, and leaves railroad lines in ruins across the Snoqualmie and Snohomish valleys.
- The Columbia River in Upheaval
Unprecedented flooding devastates communities along the Columbia River, washing away homes, bridges, and livelihoods.
- 1892 Floods Isolate Renton and Snohomish Valley Farms
Torrents ravage the Duwamish and Snohomish valleys, washing out railroad lines and leaving towns like Renton and Sultan submerged.
- The Great 1894 Northwest Flood
Catastrophic rising rivers submerge farmland, destroy crops, and paralyze rail lines across Washington and British Columbia.
- Record Flood Devastates Lower Yakima Valley
A catastrophic flood wipes out the recently constructed Richland bridge and isolates valley farmers as the Yakima River surges past its banks.
- The Sabotage of Black Lake
A malicious attempt to breach a dike and flood the Olympia countryside by draining a massive volume of water into the Deschutes River was narrowly averted.
- A Frontier Town Washed Away in the Night
A catastrophic flood destroyed the business district of Conconully in Okanogan County, leaving residents destitute and the town in ruins after a suspected cloudburst.
- The Great River Flood of 1876
As heavy rains inundate the Duwamish Valley, Seattle settlers and livestock struggle to survive the rising waters.
- King County Railroads and Valleys Reeling from Historic Flooding
As floodwaters finally begin to recede, residents and rail companies assess the massive destruction left in the wake of the '92 deluge.
- The Fremont Mill Canal Dispute
A local mill company is accused of blocking a natural waterway with piles and a building to manufacture a legal claim against the city's proposed ship canal.
Also about this, in other words
- The Great Flood of 1876: Seattle’s River Runs Wild
A historic deluge swells the Duwamish River ten feet above normal, washing away timber and threatening the fledgling city.
- The River Eats the Office: A Snohomish Flood Story
In January 1877, the Snohomish River rose so high that it swallowed the rear of the Northern Star newspaper office, threatening to wash away the town's press along with its ink.
- The Great Seattle Main Street Flood of 1886
Heavy rains turn a bustling thoroughfare into a literal river, driving residents from their homes and stalling city business.
- The Great Nooksack Flood
Heavy rains and melting snows have devastated the Nooksack Valley, leaving farmers homeless and destroying livestock.
- The Duwamish River's Unexpected Log-Clearing Service
A winter flood on the Duwamish River brought chaos to local farmland, but farmers found a silver lining in the disaster.
- The Great Flood of 1888
Torrential rains and melting snow paralyze the Snohomish and Stillaguamish valleys, destroying bridges and disrupting rail travel to Monte Cristo.
- The Great Chehalis Flood
A historic deluge leaves mill workers homeless and livestock lost as record tides overwhelm the river valley.
- The Great Chinook Flood of 1925
A rapid thaw across the Yakima Valley triggered widespread flooding, inundating low-lying roads and Crab Creek in the highest water event in over a decade.