Washington State is Underwater, Literally

Story by Madison Peters. Photo by KGET. 

As of December 7th 2025, Washington state is underwater. This was caused by severe and constant atmospheric river storms on top of unusually heavy amounts of rainfall. Although the weather was bad throughout the state, not all of it is drowning.

Due to the lack of a good drainage system for several river valleys in the state, and as Washington received heavy rainfall with almost no recovery time between each one, the rivers began to fill up and eventually resulted in river storms all over. On top of this, the water level of the rivers was already higher than it should have been. Residents of the affected counties weren't evacuated and emergency efforts didn't start until the last minute.

Scientists believe that this may just be the preview of what future winters will entail. Washington is typically a warm and rainy state and constant rain causes moisture. In addition, they have saturated grounds. Moisture can cause flood damage, and because these storms have been warm and harsh, they are at risk. On the bright side, this storm is not as bad as the great flood in 1862, but is worse than the one Washington faced in 1996. 

Madison Peters is a sophomore at Friendship Collegiate Academy.