Flood Watch: Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency yesterday over record flooding in Western Washington, activating the National Guard and sending calls for help to the federal government. An estimated 100,000 people could face evacuation orders. Evacuation orders have been issued in Skagit County for people living within the 100-year floodplain (an area with a 1% annual chance of flooding), in Concrete, Sumas in Whatcom County, Mount Vernon, and others. Rising rivers could spill over levees. The dam in Grays Harbor is “showing signs of distress.”

The National Weather Service warned the flooding could be “catastrophic” and “life threatening.” Major General Gent Welsh said more than 300 National Guard members will be deployed by the end of today, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is sending response teams to the state. The Seattle Times has live updates. 

How to Protect Yourself: Seattle isn’t at high risk of flooding, but for locations that are, KING 5 has steps you can take to keep yourself safe in the storm. This includes making sure storm drains are clear, preparing an emergency kit and putting up barriers. The county is also handing out free sandbags at these locations. The Seattle Times has a list of shelters and links to sign up for emergency alerts here.

Some Pawsitive News: As floods threaten Snohomish County, the Everett Animal Shelter pulled off a massive rescue operation yesterday, evacuating all 120 dogs and cats before rising water could reach its building. After receiving an evacuation order Tuesday night, the shelter put out a call for community help. Within hours, all the animals had been placed in foster homes. 

Hmm: Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson is keeping Police Chief Shon Barnes when she takes office next month. Barnes stepped into the interim chief role in January and was sworn in in July, after leaving his post as police chief in Madison, Wisconsin. Before leaving Madison, Barnes was accused (and later cleared) of creating a hostile work environment. In Seattle, he’s fired key civilian oversight staff and surrounded himself with a tight inner circle that some say has hurt morale, insiders told Publicola. 

The U.S. military seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a major escalation in President Trump’s months-long antagonization of President Nicolás Maduro. Trump confirmed the operation yesterday, saying it was “a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized, actually.” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said they seized the tanker because it was transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.  Since August, the U.S. has launched the largest naval deployment in the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, enacted airstrikes on alleged drug vessels that killed more than 80 people, and put out a $50 million reward for the arrest of Maduro. 

DHS posted an edit of the seizure footage to LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out. Sorry you have to see this:

 

 

New Militarized Zone Just Dropped: The Trump administration has militarized another stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in California. It extends from almost the Arizona state line to the Otay Mountain Wilderness, covering the Imperial Valley. It’s a strategy. Troops can apprehend immigrants in militarized zones and accuse them of trespassing on military bases, which can carry criminal charges. 

Sheriff’s Car Kills Pedestrian: A 26-year-old woman died Tuesday morning after a King County Sheriff’s Office vehicle hit her on Highway 2. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. Preliminary findings indicate the woman was hit in a part of the highway with no stop signs or traffic lights, said police. 

Wave Goodbye: Federal Way’s Wild Waves Theme Park will close after the 2026 season. The park, which opened in 1977, has lost “millions” in revenue from COVID-19 pandemic impacts, said officials. Property owner Jeff Stock said future plans for the site are in the early stages.

Green Card but “Better”: President Trump just announced his new “gold card” program, which offers legal status and an eventual pathway to U.S. citizenship—basically a green card “but much better,” said Trump. It costs immigrants and their employers $1 million each. The “gold” card will replace EB-5 visas, which were created by Congress in 1990. 

Meanwhile, Trump is on a racist, anti-Somali rampage. He’s called the country a “shithole,” and says he’s permanently paused “Third World migration, including from hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries,” while pleading for European immigrants instead. On Tuesday, ICE agents tackled and arrested a Somali American man, detaining him for about two hours for no reason other than his ethnicity.

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will reprise their roles as Katniss and Peeta for Sunrise on the Reaping next year. Here’s a piece of pop culture history to celebrate:  

 

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76 replies on “Slog AM: Flood Evacuations, Mayor-Elect Wilson Keeps SPD Chief, Wild Waves Is Closing”

  1. 48, No, he promised biden his primary endorsement if he would agree to put a black woman on the supreme court, but that’s just a guy exchanging one back-scratch for another like any other day in DC. DEI is a set of policies to help workplaces maintain a healthy culture for everyone, but to conservatives it means giving an unfair advantage to unqualified minorities. Anyway Biden won that election so I don’t see how your tortured interpretation of DEI is the problem.

  2. @52: No, it really was VP.

    https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/07/politics/clyburn-biden-black-woman-running-mate-cnntv

    His mentality is the same as DEI – a set of misguided polices regardless of how much you and your woke ilk praise its virtues.

    “Anyway Biden won that election so I don’t see how your tortured interpretation of DEI is the problem.”

    Because a capable VP later running for president, even if was Bernie Sanders of all people, would have solidly beaten Donald Trump.

  3. It was both — the scotus nomination was the primary endorsement deal and the vp selection was clyburn’s recommendation. But that’s neither here nor there because you’re just restating my point that DEI is just another way of saying you think black women are inherently unqualified.

    The democrats’ biggest problem in 2024 was biden refusing to listen to voters and allow for a primary, but yes there are also lots of Americans like you who think women and minorities are not qualified to run the country. I personally don’t think any democrat was going to run away with the election given the lacking primary, but again this is beside the point because we’re just agreeing for like the 3rd or 4th time now that DEI is just a polite slur for you. I genuinely do not understand what you think you’re disproving by restating this over and over again.

  4. @54: Stop with you putting words in my mouth, I never said that black women are inherently unqualified – inferred or otherwise. Just face it, you lose arguments so you resort to lies and insults.

  5. You said harris was selected purely based on her demographics. You said democrats would have won if they ran an “alpha male” (lol) in 2024, oblivious to the unprecedented circumstances of biden dropping out 4 months ahead of the election. You said democrats will continue to lose if they don’t learn from their experience of nominating a “DEI” candidate.

    I don’t know how else to interpret these statements besides your belief that white men are the only truly qualified candidates. At best i could say you are offering a sober assessment of the racism and sexism of the average american voter, except you aren’t presenting these facts as a critique or a problem to solve but a rational argument against nominating women and minorities in future elections.

    There is nothing to lose here because this isn’t an argument. I am just reading back to you your own statements and telling you how it looks from my perspective and it’s not cute.

  6. @56: Now you’re backpedaling to “You said harris was selected purely based on her demographics” from “is just another way of saying you think black women are inherently unqualified”.

    You think you’re safe and above board with the caveat “I don’t know how else to interpret” but it only reinforces your insufferable obnoxiousness, and it’s not cute.

  7. Not sure how you could read that entire comment and assume I’m backpedaling. I stand by my every word but i understand why you don’t have the guts to stand by yours. You want to be just racist enough to get your point across but leave yourself enough wiggle room to deny it.

  9. Not clear what you think triggered means or fascinating for that matter because I’m just telling you your racist comments are racist and it’s kind of boring actually

  11. If you haven’t figured it out by now explaining it a 5th time won’t do any good. Sadly one of the key features of being racist is being too dumb to understand what’s wrong with you.

  12. Just what everyone expects from you. Obfuscations, language manipulations, typecasting are the only things you know. Not to mention having folks prove a negative.

    By the way, are you a racist?

  15. @19:….said the KKKool-Aid slurping MAGA fool who can’t even keep the comments straight, and has to parrot the usual gang of trolling idiots.

    I’m not among the naive forever buying Felon Mu$k’s Mein Trumpf’s Turd Reich level fascism. You are.

    Get out while you still can. Find a new, less stressful line of work before you go over the side, too.

    KKKoolie, KKKoolie, whatcha gonna do,

    Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

  16. @64 kristofarian: Just like tensy, KKKoolie keeps getting hit with a 2×4 every time he comments.

    Like Chip Diller in National Lampoon’s Animal House, they’re hot for Douglas C. Neidermeyer:

    “Thank you, sir! May I have another?”

    I guess it’s supposed to help keep ’em in lockstep, however MAGA-blindsided.

  18. @65

    just Did.

    pull that

    2×4 outta

    your ear and

    that schtick outta

    betwixt your buttocks.

    @62 it’s thee

    Worst Case — Textbook

    we’ve witnessed here @derrr Schlogg

    of the Dunning Krogers since

    that poorly-trained howler

    monkey excaped from

    the Woodland Park

    Zoo in 1948

    who

    for a Monkey

    was Genius Level

  19. it did Alright

    for a little while

    writing ad copy for

    supermarket flyers, mostly, &

    some sport spots for the Seattle Times

    getting paid in bananas from the former

    & free tickets to Seattle Pilots games

    from the latter but in the end

    its screeches became too

    much for the Apt. mgr

    and it went back to

    Woodland Park

    dying of acute

    Transfixion at

    the ripe old

    age of 43.

    so

    there’s

    Hope, KkKoolie

    Hang in there

    little buddy!

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