Photos from space show widespread flooding in western Washington and Canada
Heavy rain swept across the Pacific Northwest in mid-November, causing major flooding in cities across western Washington and Canada.
Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted a NASA photo on Nov. 17 of Vancouver showing a sandy colored plume of sediment stretching from the Fraser River and into the Strait of Georgia as a result of recent flooding.
The photo also shows floodwaters on land and near the coast.
“Amazing movement of topsoil into the sea. Stay safe, all,” Hadfield wrote.
The Fraser River is known for its sediment, but the Nov. 17 image is unlike other years.
A 2011 photo of the area shows a much lighter and smaller sediment plume.
The heavy rain, which Seattle weather officials called an “atmospheric river,” began soaking much of the Pacific Northwest as early as Nov. 11 and lasted until Nov. 15.
Flooding along the Nooksack River near Ferndale and Bellingham was also captured in a Nov. 18 photo by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
The river rose to 23.76 feet on Nov. 18 but didn’t beat the February 1951 record of 31.23 feet, NASA Earth Observatory reported.
The intense storms caused mudslides, power outages, road closures, evacuations and prompted numerous rescues, including a 10-person rescue in Forks, Washington, on Nov. 15.
Around 500 people were also displaced in Whatcom County in Washington.
Now the county is working to repair the damages brought on by the floodwaters as more rainfall is expected over western parts of the state.
The Seattle National Weather Service reported light rain on Monday, Nov. 22, which is expected to last through Friday, Nov. 26.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Photos from space show widespread flooding in western Washington and Canada."
