TUKWILA, Wash. – After floodwaters inundated western Washington in December, social media is still filled with disbelief, with many people saying they had never seen flooding like it before.

But local history shows the region has experienced catastrophic flooding, just not within most people’s lifetimes.

A valley under water

What may look like submerged farmland in Skagit or Snohomish counties is actually an aerial view of Tukwila from more than a century ago. Before Boeing, business parks and suburban development, the Kent Valley was a wide floodplain.

In November 1906, much of the valley was underwater, according to city records. In some places, floodwaters reached up to 10 feet, inundating homesteads and entire communities.

“Roads were destroyed, river paths were readjusted,” said Chris Staudinger of Pretty Gritty Tours. “So much of what had been built in these areas got washed away.”

Staudinger has been sharing historical images and records online, drawing comparisons between the December flooding and events from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“It reminded me so much of what’s happening right now,” he said, adding that the loss then, as now, was largely a loss of property and control rather than life.

When farmers used dynamite

Records show flooding was not the only force reshaping the region’s rivers. In the late 1800s, farmers repeatedly used dynamite in attempts to redirect waterways.

“The White River in particular has always been contentious,” explained Staudinger. “For farmers in that area, multiple different times starting in the 1890s, groups of farmers would get together and blow-up parts of the river to divert its course either up to King County or down to Pierce County.”

Staudinger says at times they used too much dynamite and accidentally sent logs lobbing through the air like missiles.

In one instance, King County farmers destroyed a bluff, permanently diverting the White River into Pierce County. The river no longer flowed toward Elliott Bay, instead emptying into Commencement Bay.

Outraged by this, Pierce County farmers took their grievances to the Washington State Supreme Court. The court ruled the change could not be undone.

When flooding returned, state officials intervened to stop further explosions.

“To prevent anyone from going out and blowing up the naturally occurred log jam, the armed guards were dispatched by the state guard,” said Staudinger. “Everything was already underwater.”

Rivers reengineered — and erased

Over the next century, rivers across the region were dredged, dammed and diverted. Entire waterways changed or disappeared.

“So right where the Renton Airport is now used to be this raging waterway called the Black River,” explained Staudinger. “Connected into the Duwamish. It was a major salmon run. It was a navigable waterway.”

Today, that river has been reduced to what Staudinger described as “the little dry trickle.”

Between 1906 and 1916, the most dramatic changes occurred that played a role in its shrinking. When the Ballard Locks were completed, Lake Washington dropped by nine feet, permanently cutting off its southern flow.

A lesson from December

Despite modern levees and flood-control engineering, December’s storms showed how vulnerable the region remains.

“For me, that’s the takeaway,” remarked Staudinger. “You could do all of this to try and remain in control, but the river’s going to do whatever it wants.”

He warned that history suggests the risk is ongoing.

“You’re always one big storm from it rediscovering its old path,” said Staudinger.

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As a plaintiff in the 2022 lawsuit that kicked off years of legal sparring over Wyoming abortion rights, Dr. Giovannina Anthony had waited a long time for Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision on the state’s abortion bans.

“It has been a long road,” she said. One with ups and downs, drawbacks and delays. And even though the high court ruled against the state’s abortion bans, she’s not under the illusion that the fight for abortion access is over. 

“But at least today, we can claim a victory and say, it was really worth it,” said Anthony, a Jackson obstetrician. “It was worth it to go four years and keep it up and keep raising money and keep the awareness going. I’m really proud of our team. I’m really proud of what we accomplished.”

In reading the Supreme Court’s decision siding with plaintiffs, Anthony said, “Clearly, this is a court that holds a lot of respect for our constitution.” 

That’s because much of the decision hinged on constitutional language. 

Anthony and other plaintiffs argued that abortion is enshrined in the “right of health care access” in Article 1, Section 38 of the Wyoming Constitution. The clause states, “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.”

The state’s attorneys, meanwhile, countered that abortion isn’t health care. 

But in deciding what that language means in this case, “all five Wyoming Supreme Court justices agreed that the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy is a woman’s own health care decision protected by Article 1, Section 38,” the court’s summary stated.

As abortion rights activists in Wyoming and beyond celebrated the decision, the anti-abortion camp decried it and called for legislative action. 

“This ruling is profoundly unfortunate and sadly serves to only prolong the ultimate proper resolution of this issue,” Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. While the ruling may settle a legal question for the time being, Gordon said, “it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself.”

Gordon asked the Attorney General’s office to file a petition for rehearing the decision, which it will file within 15 days.

The voters of Wyoming should settle the matter once and for all, Gordon argued. “A constitutional amendment taken to the people of Wyoming would trump any and all judicial decisions.”

He called on the Legislature to pass such an amendment during the upcoming session and deliver it to his desk. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to appear on the ballot in the following general election. 

Gordon may get his wish during the Legislature’s 2026 budget session, which convenes Feb. 9.

State lawmakers are already preparing a bill to modify the Wyoming Constitution and clear a path for another attempted abortion ban. Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, a Republican from Hulett, said that he’s been workshopping language with Torrington Republican Sen. Cheri Steinmetz. 

“I’ve got to run it by a lot of other people,” Neiman said. 

Ideally, he added, a single constitutional amendment would be considered, although the legislative strategy is still up for discussion. 

“We’ve got a little over a month before we have to be in session,” Neiman said. “That’ll give us time to kind of see which is maybe the best plan of action.” 

A constitutional amendment would have to navigate the legislative process in a 20-day session geared toward passing Wyoming’s budget. Then, in the 2026 general election, more than half of Wyoming voters who cast a ballot would have to agree to the constitutional change.

Neiman struck an optimistic tone about an amendment’s prospects of passing the first hurdle during the session in Cheyenne.

“I can’t speak for the other chamber,” he said, “but in my chamber I’ve got a lot of phone calls and a lot of texts from a lot of my legislators who are just beside themselves at what happened.”

Senate President Bo Biteman did not return a phone call before this story published.

Victorious 

Chelsea’s Fund, an organization that helps pay for abortion services, was another of the plaintiffs that challenged Wyoming’s abortion bans. Executive Director Janean Forsyth said Tuesday’s decision affirms what her organization has long known: “that abortion is essential health care, and Wyoming women have a constitutional right and the freedom to make their own health care decisions, and that should be without government interference.”

Forsyth was flooded with messages and calls Tuesday, she said, especially from the community of reproductive rights organizations. 

“I think that [the news is] a beacon of hope for, not only Wyoming communities and families, but also nationwide,” she said. 

Christine Lichtenfels was Chelsea’s Fund executive director when the original suit was filed and throughout much of the legal battle. Relief wasn’t quite the word to describe how she felt Tuesday, she said. 

“In reading the decision, there is just a sense that, ‘Oh, there is reason in the world,” she said. “It makes me think that, yes, Wyoming is the Equality State. We can say that now without cringing.” 

(Disclosure: Lichtenfels is currently working with WyoFile on an unrelated legal matter.)

Wyoming’s only abortion clinic, Wellspring Health Access in Casper, was also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Knowing the decision would directly impact the facility’s fate, Clinic President Julie Burkhart was nervous when she opened it. Reading quickly dispelled her fears, she said, as it dawned on her that the justices sided with the plaintiffs’ legal team. 

“We are delighted,” she told WyoFile.  

Many people questioned her 2021 decision to open an abortion clinic in such a conservative state, she said. The court decision solidifies an intuition she felt back then about Wyoming residents’ sense of what’s fair and right. 

Burkhart and colleagues expect future challenges to arise, however. 

“While we celebrate today’s ruling, we know that anti-abortion politicians will continue their push to restrict access to health care in Wyoming with new, harmful proposals in the state legislature,” Burkart said in a statement. “Patients should not have to live in fear that their health care decisions will be suddenly upended at the whim of a judge or lawmaker.”

Across the state in Jackson, Dr. Anthony anticipates the Wyoming Freedom Caucus will attempt to pass laws that impose targeted restrictions against abortion providers — such as forcing patients to hear a fetal heartbeat or wait a certain time period before the procedure. 

“Unfortunately, the fight’s not over,” Anthony said, “but this is a great moment for us.”

Heartache 

Abortion opponents expressed sadness Tuesday and vehemently disagreed with the court’s opinion. 

State Rep. Rachel Rodriguez Williams was lead sponsor of one of the abortion bans. The Cody Republican and chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus did not respond to a request for comment, but posted about the decision on X. 

“My heart aches for Wyoming today,” Rodriguez Williams posted. “Thanks to the decision of four unelected, unchecked attorneys, it’s open season in Wyoming for innocent, preborn babies. Make no mistake: courts can get things wrong, and they sure did get this wrong. I’ll never stop fighting to protect life.”

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray also protested the decision, which he called “outrageously wrong” and “a leftwing activist decision totally out of touch with the Wyoming Constitution.”

Natrona County anti-abortion activist Bob Brechtel, a former Wyoming House member, also expressed frustration with the courts, criticizing the nearly two-year-long wait for a decision and saying he was “ashamed” of the outcome from the high court. 

In 2011, Brechtel co-sponsored the bill authorizing a later-successful constitutional amendment ballot measure that now protects individuals’ rights to make their own health care decisions. Born out of opposition to the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, what became Article 1, Section 38 caused some lawmakers to worry about potential unintended consequences. 

Fifteen years later, one unintended consequence came to fruition. Reached Tuesday, Brechtel confirmed that he did not intend to protect women’s right to have an abortion in Wyoming. 

“There was nothing in the legislation about killing innocent human beings,” he said. “This whole thing has been completely regenerated into something that it was never intended to be.”

A top blue-state governor slammed conservatives for inflicting “deep damage” on the Somali–American community, while the state’s top prosecutor warned of potential charges after citizen journalists filmed encounters with alleged Minneapolis-like day care addresses and streamed them online.

Citizen journalists have raised public visibility of rampant fraud allegations in Minnesota, with a large part of the allegations stemming from within the Somali community there. Weeks after Gov. Tim Walz came under fire, other bloggers traveled to Seattle and King County, Washington, to visit what they claimed were similarly fraudulent day care sites — drawing Olympia’s ire.

Former White House Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk highlighted media posted by Kristen Magnuson, who, along with Cam Higby — an independent journalist recently connected with Charlie Kirk’s conservative Turning Point USA organization — and podcaster Jonathan Choe, sounded the alarm about alleged Minneapolis-style situations cropping up in the Pacific Northwest.

“They are fraud-maxxing this exploit,” Musk claimed in response to a post by Magnuson that included a video scrolling a list of up to 539 daycare centers in Washington state that she said allegedly listed Somali as the primary language.

TIM WALZ PUSHES BACK ON MINNESOTA FRAUD ALLEGATIONS FOLLOWING VIRAL DAYCARE VIDEO

Meanwhile, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, took to X to post several photos of himself meeting with what he said were Somali community leaders.

In those meetings, Ferguson said he “discuss(ed) the deep damage inflicted by Donald Trump’s harmful rhetoric and reckless deportations. Here in Washington state, we recognize that diversity is a strength.” 

Democrats have claimed such “damage” as an uptick in anti-Somali rhetoric and some liberals have condemned citizen journalists taking it upon themselves to visit alleged day care sites.

When Fox News Digital attempted to recreate the 539 day care center list Wednesday from the official Department of Child and Youth Services website, the option to select Somali as a primary language had either been removed or was not there. Magnuson said several of the day cares lacked addresses or other standard identifying information.

MINNESOTA’S NEW MEDICAID FRAUD PREVENTION FIX WON’T MAKE ‘ANY DIFFERENCE,’ FORMER FBI AGENT SAYS

Choe replied to Washington Gov. Ferguson on X, warning that he has a “serious Somali fraud problem in (his) state,” particularly in King County, Washington, which Choe alleged was “especially out of control.”

FEDS LAUNCH ‘MASSIVE’ INVESTIGATION AFTER VIRAL VIDEO ALLEGES MINNESOTA DAYCARE FRAUD

“Hey Bob, can you explain this for us?” Higby replied to Ferguson on X, while including a video of him reportedly approaching an address in Federal Way, Washington, that he alleged received more than $200,000 in subsidies.

In the video, a man who accompanied Higby approached the door of the apparent residence and asked if the building was “Dhagash Family Child Care” — as a female voice responded, “no,” and Higby said “rustling” could be heard as his partner approached a home security camera.

In another video, Higby alleged he went to an address listed for a day care that allegedly received $800,000 in subsidies in the town of Kent, Washington, but found “no daycare here” when he approached what appeared to be a residential address.

HHS CUTS OFF MINNESOTA CHILD CARE PAYMENTS OVER ALLEGED DAYCARE FRAUD SCHEME

“Records show massive subsidy payments following inspections reflecting risk of death to children,” Higby wrote.

“There are 539 childcare centers in Washington state that list Somali as the primary language. Most don’t even give a street address. I don’t know how many of these are submitting fraudulent claims for state grants and subsidies, but I have a strong hunch the number is not zero,” read a separate statement from Magnuson.

The Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) told Fox News Digital that the agency “appreciate(s) our licensed child care providers and the important work they do to care for and educate our youngest learners.”

“We take fraud seriously. Washington state utilizes a variety of measures to minimize fraud. For example, DCYF conducts unannounced site visits at every licensed childcare provider at least once per year,” the agency said.

DCYF also randomly audits its rolls to confirm the accuracy of disbursements to the day care providers, the agency said, verifying attendance and matching families authorized to receive such benefits. The agency said it tallied 1,440 audits in 2024.

Of the lack of addresses found by Magnuson, DCYF said the state has addresses for every provider listed even if the public-facing website lacks full data, and that about 5,500 providers or 2.6% statewide do list Somali as their “language spoken.”

DCYF told Fox News Digital that anyone suspecting fraud should contact the state’s hotline directly at 1‐800‐562‐6906.

FEDS LAUNCH ‘MASSIVE OPERATION’ IN MINNESOTA AMID FRAUD SCANDAL

Washington state government reporter Carleen Johnson also replied to Ferguson’s tweet saying she visited several “Somali-run home daycare centers” in Federal Way, Washington, comparing her visits to those of YouTuber Nick Shirley in Minneapolis. 

“There were no children and no one willing to chat with this reporter,” she said. “They threatened me with police.” 

Amid the videos dropping, Washington Democratic Attorney General Nicholas Brown said his office received complaints from Somali residents “after reports of home-based daycare providers being harassed and accused of fraud with little to no fact-checking.”

“We are in touch with the state Department of Children Youth and Families regarding the claims being pushed online and the harassment reported by daycare providers,” Brown said, adding that showing up on a person’s porch and “threatening or harassing them is not an investigation; neither is filming minors who may be in the home.”

SENATE PRESSURE MOUNTS AS MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL CONTINUES TO UNFOLD

Brown urged anyone subjected to that treatment to contact police or his office’s hate crimes and bias hotline.

“If you think fraud is happening, there are appropriate measures to report and investigate,” Brown said in a statement. Where “fraud is substantiated and verified by law enforcement and regulatory agencies, people should be held accountable.”

Higby responded to Brown appearing to reference his work, tweeting that “journalists showing up to daycares and asking for applications is not harassment or threatening — unless of course, it’s a fraudulent daycare, then it may be threatening to the fraud ring.”

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Neither Brown’s nor Ferguson’s office responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by press time.

According to Newsweek, Magnuson filtered her searches for Somali as the primary language of a day care, and added a filter for Washington “Early Achievers” program beneficiaries, which “entitles them to state funding. That second filter cut the number of centers returned to 274,” according to the outlet.