Strong communities and strong local news go hand in hand.

KUOW is a public good that keeps this community informed and connected.

Your support is critical to our work.

Don't wait.

Join KUOW's winter fundraising drive early and make a difference today.

Give now at KUOW.org or on the KUOW app.

How does AI even work? Where does creativity come from? What's the secret to living longer?

Ted Radio Hour explores the biggest questions with some of the world's greatest thinkers.

They will surprise, challenge, and even change you. Listen to NPR's TED Radio Hour,

wherever you get your podcasts. Good afternoon and happy Friday. From the KUOW Newsroom, this is

Seattle Now. I'm Paige Browning. Hope you're staying safe and dry today if you can,

as we have a lot more flooding news to tell you about. It's Friday, December 12th.

The Trump administration has granted Washington State's request for emergency assistance as it deals with disastrous flooding.

That unlocks federal funding for property owners

who don't have flood insurance. It could be days, if not weeks, before things get back to normal,

according to Governor Bob Ferguson. We want to communicate to Washingtonians. This situation is

extremely unpredictable. And if you have instructions to evacuate, please, please evacuate.

About 100,000 people are still under evacuation orders. Entire roads, farms, and buildings are

underwater after torrential flooding on the scadget and other rivers. Robert Azell is director of the state's

emergency management division, and he says rivers are expected to remain high for days.

They're not going to drop quickly, and so we need to keep our eyes on what's going on in the

situation that we're experiencing. And then coming up, we see more weather coming early next week,

...