Unidentified Speaker told residents that an "atmospheric river dropped more than 17 inches of rain in the mountains," forcing releases from the Howard Hanson Dam and causing flooding on the Green River. The speaker credited more than two decades of investments by the King County Flood Control District and cities in South King County in strengthening the levee system for protecting lives and jobs.

The address said Kent pre-positioned crews, walked levees before the storm, and activated its department operations center, partnering with the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority for centralized emergency coordination. City staff worked around the clock with King County monitoring levees for nearly two weeks, and crews assisted with emergency repairs to the Desmony Levee in Tukwila while coordinating with WSDOT to safely reopen Highway 167.

City officials described a shift from response to recovery: connecting residents and businesses to cleanup assistance, debris removal, financial relief and recovery resources, and coordinating damage reporting with county, state and federal partners to help the community "recover faster, rebuild stronger, and move forward together." The speaker said the city will continue investing in long-term flood protection measures.

The address framed the flooding as an "extraordinary" event and emphasized that planning and prior investments reduced risk. Next steps identified in the speech centered on continued intergovernmental coordination and investment in levee and flood-protection projects; no specific new funding allocations or timelines were provided in the remarks.