Rain Clears In Gig Harbor, No Major Damage Reported

The worst of an atmospheric river has passed in Gig Harbor. Despite heavy rains and winds Thursday, Friday, and Monday morning, Gig Harbor is mostly clear and 43 degrees as of 5 p.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

A 20% chance of rain is reported for Tuesday, which will give way to sun that is expected to last through Thursday. The Flood Watch and Wind Advisory applied to Gig Harbor and much of Western Washington are no longer in effect.

Although Puget Sound Electric is currently reporting 672 outages affecting 90,981 customers as of 4:53 p.m. Monday, no outages are reported in Gig Harbor. However, several outages in Port Orchard are still reported to affect a total of 1,991 customers. PSE lists the cause of all outages as “under investigation,” but they are most surely due to the high winds and rains that affected thousands of people around the state all day.

Gig Harbor did not report any road closures, flooding, or downed trees on Monday. As of 5:13 p.m., the closest road closure is reported in Glen Cove, due to a downed tree, according to the Pierce County Department of Public Works. Pierce County has not listed any “use caution” warnings near Gig Harbor either.

Despite school closures across the state, Peninsula School District 401 did not list any school closings in Gig Harbor.

The atmospheric river wreaked havoc across the state throughout Monday. In Pierce County, numerous roads were closed, though as of Monday afternoon most roads are open, and the county simply recommends caution around South Hill.

The situation in Skagit County was especially dire, where residents of Hamilton and Forks were evacuated Monday morning, according NBC News 5. The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that it was helping evacuate residents west of Forks, near Highway 110. The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office also reports a rescue of stranded residents near Everson.

Northbound I-5 in Bellingham was blocked for several hours due to downed trees and a partial landslide on the roadway. State Rte. 539 is also closed, while Sumas police near the Canadian border reportedly told residents there is no reasonably safe way to get to Bellingham, NBC News said.

The National Weather Service's Seattle office reported winds of up to 58 miles an hour at Sea-Tac Airport at around 10:30 a.m. Monday, 65 miles an hour in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 55 mph at Port Townsend, and 50 in Port Angeles.

The NWS Seattle reported record rain levels at the Nooksack River at Cedarville, the Samish River near Burlington, the Calawah River near Forks, and the Bogachiel River near La Push.

Experts are providing a number of safety tips for flooding and outages, including unplugging all electronics, discussing and planning an evacuation procedure, keeping important documents and valuables in a water-tight safe deposit box, and checking to see if you're eligible for flood insurance.

Related:

• Coast Guard Helps Evacuate Residents From Flooding Near Forks
• High Winds Knock Out Power For Thousands In King County Monday