Tens of thousands of people evacuated their homes as rivers throughout the Puget Sound region rose to historic levels Thursday and scores more Washingtonians needed rescue or were cut off some communities entirely.

The National Weather Service service warned of catastrophic, life-threatening flooding continuing Friday, but residents will get a bit of a reprieve from heavy rain. Rainfall totals are forecast for far less than earlier this week — the Seattle area saw 1 to 4 inches of rain, and some spots in the Puget Sound region had more than a foot over the past three days — but that won’t alleviate the flooding.

“The rain is going to be lessened, but everything is going to be flowing downstream from what’s fallen over the past couple of days,” NWS meteorologist Johnny Burg said.

In area

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