The flooding of Everson, Washington
EVERSON, Wash. – As much as 5 feet of water rushed down Main Street here on the morning of Nov. 15. The currents, strong enough to push around a police Humvee, trapped people in their vehicles. Floodwaters submerged City Hall. Sewage spilled into homes from backed up wastewater pipes
Everson, in the northwest corner of the state, was mostly cut off from outside help, leaving locals at the helm in dozens of rescues, some using the buckets of tractors to pluck people from roaring floodwaters. One man died after his vehicle was washed off Main Street and into a nearby blueberry field. His faint shouts, reported to police from a nearby home, weren’t enough to locate him in the murky waters.
Two weeks later, another flood roared through. A pipe-bursting freeze and a blanket of snow followed, leaving some residents to boil drinking water, make emergency repairs and navigate insurance claims in the cold.
A blueberry field in Everson, Wash., on May 20. A dairy worker died in this field after his vehicle was swept away by floodwaters in November 2021. (Jovelle Tamayo for NBC News)
