Siren blares, alerting Hamilton residents to evacuate due to flooding concerns

A siren sounded a third time in the community of Hamilton in Skagit County, alerting residents to evacuate Sunday evening due to flooding concerns.

Residents were told they could go to Hamilton First Baptist Church, where the Red Cross has an emergency shelter set up.

On Sunday evening, some residents were seen evacuating their homes, headed to higher ground.

“It’s scary, it’s scary. I’m nine months pregnant. I’m due in two weeks,” said Tami Wilson, who evacuated her home.

“This is the worse I’ve seen it,” said Laura Stevens.

As of Monday morning, 35 residents were camping out in cars and RVs parked in the church parking lot.

“We are expecting a full evacuation of the city of Hamilton,” said Laura Han, a Skagit County Spokesperson.

Han said the town’s evacuation advisory came down after forecasts showed a potentially record-breaking rise of water levels in the Skagit River.

“We are looking at a crest in Concrete of 40 feet, which would be a historic level event,” said Han.

As of 4 a.m. Monday, the forecast was down slightly. The Skagit River is forecasted to crest in Concrete at 38.51 feet at 10 a.m. Monday and in Mount Vernon at 37.46 feet at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

Officials said the county’s emergency management department will be sending updates whenever necessary as more rain is expected in the hours ahead.

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