LUMMI NATION, Wash. — The main access road off the Lummi Peninsula has reopened after the Lummi Nation was cut off following major flooding this week.
The Lummi Indian Business Council said in a Facebook post on Thursday night that all roads off the Lummi Nation are flooded.
Haxton Way, the main access road off Lummi Peninsula, closed on Thursday at 9 p.m. due to unsafe conditions. Officials reassessed the road Friday morning and it reopened to the public. However, "water over roadway" signs will remain in place, according to the business council.
The road had conditionally opened on Thursday afternoon with a pilot car and flagging operation that allowed one lane of traffic at a time. However, that access closed later that night for public safety, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office asks people to obey road closure signs.
Additionally, Slater Road was reopened just before 10 a.m. Friday.
An atmospheric river brought heavy rains and flooding to Whatcom and Skagit counties earlier this week, causing the worst flooding some areas had seen in more than 30 years.
The Nooksack River at Ferndale, which flows through Lummi Peninsula to Bellingham Bay, crested in major flood stage on Tuesday. In major flooding, the Nooksack River could flood roadways, including Haxton Way, inundate farmland and residential areas and overtop levees, according to the National Weather Service.
Due to the Haxton Way road closure, Lummi Nation School will be closed Friday.
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