SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — The Red Cross is opening a flood evacuation center in Skagit County due to flooding and power outages in Hamilton, Concrete and surrounding areas.
Anyone in need of assistance can go to the shelter starting at 4:30 p.m. It's located at Lyman Elementary School at 8183 Lyman Avenue.
A Flood Warning remains in effect for the Skagit River until Sunday.
The National Weather Service Seattle says many rivers will crest Saturday and recede through early Monday. The heaviest rains and strongest winds are over, but showers will linger, according to the NWS.
Skagit County Commissioners declared a state of emergency as weekend rains threaten to flood some of the lowland areas.
In the small town of Hamilton, with a population of around 300, people in low-lying areas started the familiar winter task of filling sandbags Friday.
"It's a chase for us," said Lori Japhet. "We have to get this done early or else we're chasing that water. It's kind of an annual occurrence for us. We just take it as it comes."
Flooding in Hamilton runs almost as deep as the town's 148-year history.
It floods so often, there are plans underway to resettle homeowners living along the Skagit River.
This round of flooding shouldn't be too bad. Lori said she only expects water to creep into some of her outbuildings.
"I don't think anybody really knows until it comes," she said. "Then that's what you get. The best thing you can do is some prep and hope for the best."
The worst flooding Lori has ever seen in her town came in 2003 when the Skagit River inundated Hamilton with up to six feet of water.
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"It got into the house," said Lori. "No one could stay there for 6 months. It ripped our propane tanks off their stands."
Just downriver in the town of Lyman, it's a different, but no less serious situation.
Work crews from the Army Corps of Engineers began work Friday to shore up the shoreline and keep the community from, quite literally, crumbling into the Skagit River.
"We don't have a flooding problem in Lyman, we have an erosion problem," said Mayor Eddie Hills. "Other towns have water over roadways, we have an erosion problem."
The Corps will work around the clock, through the weekend, to build a 300-foot long trench, filled with 20-million pounds of rock to push back on the erosion problem. The work is a continuation of a project that started in 2018 when about 500 feet of rock trench was put down.
The goal is to protect roads, as well as power and internet lines from being swept away.
Mayor Hills said just 38-feet of land was left before the Skagit River would’ve started eating into important infrastructure.
His town has already watched the river devour about 200 feet of shoreline in just over two years. Three homes were lost between 2017 and 2018.
"I'm hoping to not lose any houses again," he said, "but the river kind of does what it wants."
Back in Hamilton, Lori Japhet continued filling sandbags and said she has no plans to move, even if she's offered a home on higher ground.
"We love it here. This is just part of life," Lori said. "It's one time a year for the most part. It comes in and we just have to deal with it."