Authorities have told everyone within the Skagit River's 100-year flood plain to evacuate ahead of rapidly rising floodwaters. Communities including Burlington, La Conner, Lyman and Hamilton, as well as parts of Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley,

BURLINGTON, Wash. — All residents in the city of Burlington were told to evacuate immediately Friday morning as Gages Slough flooded homes. The National Guard and rescue teams went door-to-door to notify residents and helped them evacuate.

Residents and emergency crews in towns along the rain-engorged Skagit River in western Washington state braced on Friday for potential levee failures while National Guard troops assisted in evacuations after days of severe flooding in the Pacific Northwest.

Skagit County including Mount Vernon, Burlington, Conway, La Conner and Edison remain under a flash flood watch. Because of heavy rains and overflow from the Skagit River, it is possible dikes and levees could fail resulting in flash flooding through those areas into Skagit and Padilla bays.

The Burlington Police Department and Skagit County Emergency management issued a city-wide evacuation this morning, after initial reports that the Slough, part of the Skagit River watershed, has jumped its banks. The City has nearly 10,000 residents.

Floodwaters began to recede on Friday after historic inundation in Washington state, but the areas hardest hit by flooding could face another wave of atmospheric river next week, and more inundation is looming.