As the Skagit River blows past record heights, the town of Newhalem, owned and operated by Seattle City Light, is currently cut off in both directions due to flooding on Highway 20.

The road closure, one piece of the fallout from a punishing atmospheric river that’s overwhelmed scores of rivers in Western Washington, comes as the Army Corps of Engineers has taken over operations at nearby Ross Dam, which provides electricity to Seattle residents.

Newhalem is a company town adjacent to three Seattle-owned dams on the nearby Skagit River: the Ross, Diablo and Gorge lake dams. All three generate power for Seattle.

In anticipation of the weather, crews stocked Newhalem with enough supplies, food and beds for 24-hour operations monitoring the three city dams on the Skagit, said City Light sp

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