MONROE – It was like a scene out of Genesis.
Cows and zebras. Horses and reindeer. Pigs, Indian cranes and a whole trailer of birds.
The horse barn at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds is not even close to 300 by 50 by 30 cubits.
Still, on Tuesday, it was beginning to look a lot like Noah’s ark.
There was no man named Noah. Instead, Noah’s work was done by neighbors and volunteers who brought trailers and extra hay to help save animals.
In swamped fields, pasture and pens gave way to water.
As the flood rushed in, farmers raced to rescue their livestock and racehorses.
One man brought his exotic animals.
Bob Wolf said his one-year-old zebras, Xena, Melissa and Sissy, didn’t mind the water but didn’t much like being separated.
Wolf’s two reindeer needed a trailer, not a bright red nose, to make it to the fairgrounds.
Veterinarian Dr. Dana Bridges said she had helped more animals than she could count in the past two days.
Not all the animals liked being moved to a strange barn crowded with baying animals. But it’s better than drowning, Bridges said.
By day’s end, while water still poured over levees, there was no olive branch, no dove.
Over the Snohomish River delta, there was a spot of blue sky and a rainbow from one end of the valley to the next.
It probably won’t take 40 days for the floods to recede, but for the animals, it might seem that long.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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