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MONROE, Wash. – Thousands of Washington residents person been forced to evacuate their homes successful the days aft large flooding swamped areas crossed the state, forcing them to relocate themselves, household members, indispensable belongings and successful galore cases, animals.
Snohomish County nonmigratory Mai Vongpany faced a akin menace that hundreds of different livestock owners faced amid historical flooding successful Washington state. As floodwaters precocious and threatened onshore and livestock, Vongpany went to a authorities fairground similar hundreds of different Washingtonians facing the aforesaid threat.
Evergreen State Fair Park provided structure for horses, cattle, goats, sheep, a fewer pigs, chickens and adjacent a fewer rabbits.
(Betsy Robertson, American Red Cross / FOX Weather)
Since Dec. 8, Evergreen State Fairgrounds successful Monroe, Washington, has offered escaped exigency stabling to supply refuge for each kinds of livestock jeopardized by flooding, including Vongpany's chickens, earlier their coup was wholly submerged successful floodwater.
"Most of the time, we're known for the just and our amusive events and each the amusive stuff, and this is the different broadside of the enactment that we do, is being capable to connection a harmless spot for the community," Evergreen State Fair Park Marketing Specialist Amy Craven said. "They're disquieted astir their animals, but they besides person a workplace that they're worrying about, truthful if we marque definite that their animals are safe, past they tin absorption connected the different things and beryllium capable to benignant of rebuild erstwhile the floodwaters spell down."
At its peak, Evergreen State Fair Park provided exigency stalling for implicit 100 cattle that were displaced by flooding.
(Betsy Robertson, American Red Cross / FOX Weather)
At its highest past week, the fairground provided structure for 171 horses, implicit 100 cattle, astir 60 goats and sheep, a fewer pigs, chickens and adjacent a fewer rabbits connected the grounds of the 193-acre fairground.
"We've seen the assemblage travel unneurotic and enactment each other, we emotion that. Everybody is helping everybody out. We're truly gladsome we tin connection this assets for our community," Craven said of the exigency unchangeable programme offered astatine Evergreen State Fair Park.
While the fairground provides structure for livestock astatine nary cost, the owners stay liable for their animals. The fairgrounds annually big the Evergreen State Fair, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Snohomish County.
The fairground features an equestrian halfway with stalls to accommodate up to 400 horses and galore barns to store goats, sheep and chickens.
SNOHOMISH, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 12: A cattle successful a pasture connected the slope of the swollen Snohomish River connected December 12, 2025, successful Snohomish, Washington. Following days of dense rain, galore cities successful Washington person seen rivers swell and spill implicit banks, causing wide flooding and spot damage.
((Photo by Natalie Behring/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Offering exigency refuge for livestock isn't caller for the parkland that hosts 1 of the largest region fairs successful the Pacific Northwest.
Agriculture has been a ascendant diagnostic of Snohomish County's scenery since the region was founded successful 1861, and successful the lawsuit of an emergency, farmers whitethorn beryllium forced to relocate their livestock.
The fairground opens astir erstwhile a twelvemonth to service the assemblage successful the lawsuit of a earthy catastrophe arsenic an exigency assets for livestock owners, whether it beryllium for flooding during Washington's rainy season, wildfire evacuations and adjacent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though she said, "These are the astir animals we've had connected the spot for exigency stabling."
Craven added, "For us, we truly presumption the enactment that we bash arsenic a assemblage assets and a fantastic happening that we tin bash to enactment specified a large community."
Located successful Monroe astir an hr distant from Seattle, the fairgrounds are situated disconnected of Highway 2, adjacent the Leavenworth area, which sustained important harm and is expected to beryllium closed "for months," according to Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson.
A mudslide occurred and destroyed portion of the roadworthy connected US 2 adjacent Skykomish.
(WSDOT / Facebook / FOX Weather)
Sitting astatine a higher elevation, the fairgrounds connection a harmless abstraction distant from the flooding, though the neighboring communities successful Monroe and Snohomish County were affected by the flooding.
"Many of our employees were taking attraction of their ain spot and their ain livestock, truthful we were a small spot of a constricted unit here," Craven said.
Managed by the Snohomish County Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department, Evergreen State Fair Park is inactive providing exigency stalling for livestock displaced by the historical flooding, though astir of the livestock person been picked up, according to Craven.
An American Red Cross Shelter was besides opened astatine Evergreen State Fair Park to supply refuge for Washingtonians displaced by the historical flooding.
(American Red Cross / FOX Weather)
In summation to offering an indispensable abstraction for livestock, with thousands affected by evacuation orders successful Snohomish County alone, the American Red Cross established a structure astatine Evergreen State Fairgrounds, offering exigency services to displaced families and individuals.
Betsy Robertson, American Red Cross communications manager for the Northwest Region said, "The fairgrounds are a genuinely a assemblage resource."
Children and families displaced by the utmost flooding were invited to conscionable and greet the cattle uprooted from their mean grazing grounds for the aforesaid reason.
(Betsy Robertson, American Red Cross / FOX Weather)
The American Red Cross offered catastrophe services for those successful need, connected apical of a structure that Robertson said serviced astir 50 radical daily.
Battling the aforesaid flood, portion radical were sheltered astatine the fairgrounds, they were capable to bask the institution of the galore animals besides displaced by the historical flooding.
"This catastrophe is community-wide and nary 1 should person to look it alone," Robertson said. "Our Red Cross Shelters connection places to travel and get support."
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