Crews rescue drivers who ignore road closed signs as Stillaguamish River reaches record levels

ARLINGTON, Wash. — The Stillaguamish River reached record levels Tuesday. Flood waters covered sections of State Route 530 and even put Twin Rivers County Park in Arlington underwater. Despite roads being closed and warnings from officials not to drive through water on the road, many people didn’t listen, prompting water rescues.

“We don’t even drive in it with our apparatus,” Willy Harper, acting captain for North County Fire, said.

His crew responded to a driver stuck on the road to Silvana.

“We’ve got a lady who drove around the signs that were blocking the road and thought she could make it through the flood waters and her car stalled out so we sent the Stillaguamish Water Rescue Team to get her out of the car,” he said.

Harper said despite being cold from water getting into the vehicle, the driver of the car was okay.

“A lot of people think that they can get through the waters because when they first start in it’s really shallow but cars stall out really easily and the water levels could be coming up so when she was maybe stuck in 8 inches of water, in 10 minutes she could be stuck in 18 inches of water so it can get really dangerous and really cold,” he said.

The Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management also urged people to listen to warnings and not drive through water on roadways.

“It only takes six inches of water to knock an adult off their feet, it only takes 12 inches to wash away a small car and only takes 24 inches of running water to wash away an SUV or a heavy truck,” said the director of the Department of Emergency Management Lucia Schmit. “If a power line is down in water you have to assume all of the water is electrified so stay clear of all that. Water is a conductor for electricity so absolutely call 911 and stay far clear.”

Officials again are urging people to stay home if they can and abide by road closure signs.

“Obey the signs, the signs are put there for a reason, the county pays close attention to what the water levels are doing and if people just abide by the laws and not go around the signs, they’d be a lot safer,” Harper said.

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