(NEW YORK) — Up to 100,000 people in Washington state could be ordered to evacuate amid a threat of “catastrophic” flooding from an atmospheric river event, officials said.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, who announced a state of emergency on Wednesday, pleaded with residents to follow evacuation orders and warned on social media, “Catastrophic flooding is likely.”

In Skagit County, north of Seattle, officials called for evacuations amid the major flooding, saying “residents within the FEMA 100-year floodplain need to evacuate to high ground immediately.”

Multiple rivers are at major flood stage and more are expected to grow into major flood stage later in the day on Thursday.

The Snohomish River at Snohomish reached a record high of 33.9 feet on Thursday morning, and it may stay near th

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