SEATTLE - The Seattle District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will have flood teams out overnight and tomorrow in the Chehalis, Puyallup, Nooksack and Snohomish river basins.

A flood team is actively repairing a levee, which sustained damage in last year's flooding, along the Nooksack River in Whatcom County and is monitoring other levees in the river basin. A flood team was sent to Shoalwater Bay on Saturday in response to a request for assistance from the Shoalwater Tribe provided 4,500 sandbags and strengthened a damaged flood berm there Sunday. The heaviest rainfall has been on the Olympic Peninsula and in the Chehalis River Basin, and teams are monitoring river basins throughout Western Washington.

The Corps took over the regulation of Wynoochee Dam on the Olympic Peninsula Sunday evening. The dam is owned by the city of Aberdeen and operated by Tacoma City Light. The Wynoochee River Basin has received 8.6 inches of rainfall in the past 24 hours. The good news is that Wynoochee Dam was below the normal flood pool by 15 feet (762 feet above mean sea level) when the Corps took it over.

Residents need to be aware that Wynoochee Dam only controls 20 percent of the drainage basin. Even minimum outflow from Wynoochee Dam cannot control impacts downstream, and residents need to be prepared for flooding and damages from high water.

Public Law 84-99 enables the Corps to assist state and local authorities in flood fight activities and cost share in the repair of flood protection structures. The purpose is to prevent loss of life and minimize property damage associated with severe weather.

The Corps activated its Emergency Operations Center and the Reservoir Control Center (RCC) this weekend in advance of the storm and continues to operate 24 hours a day. The National Weather Service issues severe weather, flood watches and warnings and should be consulted for that information.