The Deluge Strikes the Sound
Heavy rains and melting mountain snow cripple regional rail lines and cause flooding across King and Snohomish counties, leaving trains stranded in mudslides.
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Heavy rains on Friday and a warm southwest wind that melted mountain snow triggered floods in the lower valleys and caused significant rail disruptions. The Great Northern coast lines suffered most; between Everett and Edmonds, mudslides occurred at intervals, effectively blocking the tracks. At Lake Station, a slide 370 feet long swept part of the track into Lake Washington, delaying overlanders. The Columbia & Puget Sound track also saw landslides west of Newcastle, forcing passenger transfers. The storm extended across Eastern Washington, with reports of washed-out bridges near Reardon and flooding in Davenport.
“A regular series of mud slides two to four feet deep came down on Friday night at intervals between Everett and Edmonds.”
This 1896 flood event highlights the perennial challenge of building infrastructure in a geologically active region prone to extreme rainfall. The reliance on the rail corridors that still define our regional transit makes this a very recognizable crisis for modern commuters.
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