Washington Mudslides/Flooding

Rain-saturated ground and the collapse of a beaver dam late Thursday has
caused  mudslides, evacuations and washed out roads on south Whidbey Island.

Island County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Ed Wallace said the 
intersection of Holst Street and Glendale road was threatening to wash out 
before 2 a.m. Friday.

By 8 a.m., Video from KIRO's Chopper 7 showed a huge sinkhole in Glendale Road
 and houses with mud and water around them.

Authorities went door to door to do voluntary evacuations in the area known as
 Glendale, south of Clinton, early Friday.

Eight or more houses could be hit with mud and water, Wallace said.

Island County Director of Emergency Management David Hollett said the flooding
 and slides were caused by a beaver dam that broke at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Water behind the dam flooded down toward a culvert underneath Glendale Road. 
The water was too big a volume for the culvert to handle and emergency crews 
from Island County Public Works responded and tried to use pumps and piping to
 move more water over the top of the road so it wouldn't be damaged, Hollett 
said.

By 2 a.m. Friday, it became apparent that the efforts were not going to be 
enough to prevent damage and DEM began voluntary evacuations of seven or eight
 homes in the area, he said.

At 6:30 a.m. the water completely undercut Glendale Road and it washed out, 
causing a huge crater.

Chopper video showed a large amount of water running down the washed-out 
Humphrey Road. Where the road meets the shoreline, video showed a shed that
was  destroyed and a house surrounded with mud.

Hollett said he was in the process of trying to find out if other homes need
to  be evacuated or other people needed shelter.

No injuries were reported and crews are at the scene.