Campus Alert Archive
SVC

75,000 Evacuated, Finals Online: Skagit Valley College Closed for Historic Atmospheric River Flooding

WAfloodingemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On December 10, 2025, Skagit Valley College closed all campuses and centers from 4 PM Wednesday through 5 PM Friday as a back-to-back atmospheric river event drove the Skagit River toward record levels. All Skagit residents in the 100-year floodplain — roughly 75,000 people — were ordered to evacuate. SVC moved some final exams online and rescheduled others. Governor Bob Ferguson held a press conference at the college during the flood event.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Skagit Valley College
Community College · WA
~8,000 studentsSVC Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from Cascadia Daily News reporting on the SVC closure announcement320 chars
SVC Alert: Due to forecast historic flooding from the Skagit River, all SVC campuses and centers will close at 4:00 PM today, Wednesday, December 10, and remain closed through 5:00 PM Friday, December 12. Some final exams will be held remotely; instructors will contact students directly. Monitor skagit.edu for updates.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Pushed Wednesday afternoon December 10, 2025, ahead of the forecast Skagit River crest at Mount Vernon (36.91 feet) at 4:00 AM Friday December 12
The phrase 'historic flooding' is unusual in higher-ed alert language — most weather closures use 'severe weather' or 'inclement weather'
Specifying remote final exams within the closure announcement itself reflects post-COVID infrastructure: pre-2020 SVC could not have offered this option in a sudden weather closure
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from SVC Emergency Communications and Cascadia Daily News reporting321 chars
SVC remains closed through Friday, December 12 at 5:00 PM. The Skagit River is at or near record flood levels in Mount Vernon and Concrete. All Skagit residents in the 100-year floodplain are under mandatory evacuation orders. Faculty: please continue to communicate exam plans directly to students via Canvas. Stay safe.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Acknowledged the broader regional context: 75,000 people in the 100-year floodplain were ordered to evacuate, including across the river from the Mount Vernon campus
Direct Canvas-based faculty-to-student communication reflected the operational reality that SVC's email and SMS alerts could not handle the granular exam-by-exam updates
Same day Governor Bob Ferguson held a press conference at SVC in Mount Vernon — turning the closed campus into a regional press venue
ALL CLEAREmail
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from SVC reopening communications371 chars
SVC will reopen all campuses and centers on Saturday, December 13. The Skagit River has crested and floodwaters are receding, though some access roads remain affected. Final exams that were postponed will be rescheduled in the coming week; check Canvas and contact instructors directly. Counseling and academic support are available for students affected by the flooding.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reopening came on Saturday December 13 after the river crested at Mount Vernon at 4:00 AM Friday December 12
Acknowledgment that 'some access roads remain affected' is unusually candid: a clean all-clear would simply say 'roads are open'
Counseling-and-academic-support framing recognizes that even an unflooded campus had students whose homes were inundated — a community college serving an evacuated valley
Context

Background

Skagit Valley College is a community college serving roughly 8,000 students from a main campus in Mount Vernon, Washington, with centers across Skagit, Island, and San Juan counties. From December 8 through December 12, 2025, back-to-back atmospheric rivers rated AR-4 to AR-5 delivered approximately 5 trillion gallons of rainfall over one week to Western Washington. The Skagit River was forecast to crest at 40.65 feet in Concrete on December 11 and at 36.91 feet at Mount Vernon early December 12. SVC announced on December 10 that all campuses and centers would close from 4:00 PM Wednesday through 5:00 PM Friday, with some final exams moved to remote and others rescheduled. All Skagit residents in the 100-year floodplain — roughly 75,000 people — were ordered to evacuate on Wednesday night. Mount Vernon, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley, and the upriver communities of Hamilton, Conway, Rockport, Marblemount, and Concrete were all advised to evacuate. Governor Bob Ferguson held a press conference at SVC during the flooding. The Skagit, Snohomish, and Cedar Rivers all broke all-time flood records on December 11; a federal emergency declaration was approved December 12. The case is significant as one of the first community college closures driven by an AR-5 atmospheric river, the highest-magnitude classification in the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes' five-tier scale, and demonstrated how post-COVID online infrastructure enabled remote finals during a sudden multi-day weather closure.
Analysis

Key Findings

SVC closed for two and a half days during a forecast historic atmospheric river — the institution acted on forecast crest data, not on already-flooded conditions
Some final exams were moved to remote delivery within the closure announcement itself — a post-COVID capability that pre-2020 community colleges could not have offered
The closure coincided with a 75,000-person mandatory evacuation across the surrounding floodplain — making this both a campus-safety and regional-disaster response
Governor Bob Ferguson held a press conference at SVC during the flooding, illustrating how closed community college campuses serve as regional emergency hubs
Outcome
Skagit Valley College closed Dec 10 (4 PM) through Dec 12 (5 PM). Some finals held remotely; some moved to a later date. Roughly 75,000 Skagit County residents in the 100-year floodplain were ordered to evacuate. The Skagit, Snohomish, and Cedar Rivers broke all-time flood records on December 11. Federal emergency declaration approved December 12.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    These Skagit, Whatcom schools are closed again Friday due to flooding (Cascadia Daily News)
    cascadiadaily.com
  2. News
    100,000 evacuated in historic Skagit Valley flood in Washington state (Northwest Public Broadcasting)
    nwpb.org
  3. Official
    Emergency Communications (Skagit Valley College Security Services)
    skagit.edu
  4. Source
    2025 Pacific Northwest floods (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  5. Report
    December 8-11, 2025 Heavy Rainfall and Flooding: Historical Context (UW Climate Impacts Group)
    climate.uw.edu
  6. Report
    Historical Flooding in Western Washington – December 2025 (WSU Skagit Extension)
    extension.wsu.edu
Tags
floodingatmospheric-riverskagit-riverwashingtoncommunity-collegeskagit-valley-collegeremote-finalsar-5pacific-northwestmandatory-evacuation
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion