Latest flood update: I-5 closed at Chehalis, governor declares state of emergency
Monday, December 3, 2007 4:19 PM PST
By Thacher Schmid, Andre Stepankowsky, Stephanie Mathieu and Leila Summers
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Flooding has forced the closure of a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 through Lewis County for at least 36 hours, the Washington Department of Transportation announced at 3:44 p.m. today.
The highway will be closed from Exit 88 near Grand Mound to exit 68, about 11 miles south of Chehalis.
It is the first complete freeway closure in this area due to flooding since 1996 and reopening depends on falling water levels in the Chehalis River and Dillenbaugh Creek.
In another fresh development this afternoon, Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency statewide over the three day storm that finally was subsiding after bringing powerful winds and drenching rains to the region.
At Woodland, the DOT closed Exit 22 due to high water at the bottom of the ramps.
In Cowlitz County, the worst is over, according to the National Weather Service.
Weather in Cowlitz County will be "windy earlier in the evening, and breezy the rest of the night," agency spokesman Miles Higa said this afternoon.
The news should come as a relief to Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon after a chaotic Monday marked by dozens of road closings, sport flooding, downed trees, power outages, evacuation requests and "boil water" alerts.
In addition, Monday afternoon Amtrak official announced that mudslides have halted north-south Amtrak passenger train service between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia. Normal service should resume Tuesday. Passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com for additional information and train status updates.
In another fresh development, Cathlamet residents served by the town's water system were asked to conserve water because muddy conditions in the Elochoman River made it hard for the town's water treatment plant to keep up with demand, said Holly Pfenniger, a spokeswoman for the Wahkiakum County commissioners.
Much of the county remained without 911 service, and the Grays River area in the west county appeared to he "very hard hit" by flooding and was cut off. Officials asked Wahkiakum County residents to call 795-3242 with police, fire or medical needs.
"We believe most of that end of the county is without power. If people need to evacuate they should do it before dark," Pfenniger said at midafternoon today.
Officials were trying to use a Hovercraft to rescue to two stranded residents in the Loop Road area of Grays River, Pfenniger said.
"We've got major flooding all over our county and trees and branches coming down, high winds. We're just trying to get people off the roads," said Raedyn Grasseth, spokeswoman for the Wahkiakum County Sheriff's office.
Local rivers will continue to rise, with the Cowlitz River expected to peak at around 23 feet in Kelso -- about 1.5 feet above flood stage, according to hydrologist Andy Bryant. That's slightly higher than forecast earlier in the afternoon because the agency discovered its Kelso gauge was reading "a little bit low," Bryant said.
Flood stage is when the river flows over natural banks and can flood undiked, low-lying areas but still well below the tops of local levees.
The Cowlitz at Castle Rock is expected to crest just slightly above flood stage -- 48 feet -- at 4 p.m. today.
"We've had flooding like this almost on an annual basis over the past seven years," Bryant said. "Impacts are pretty minor at the levels we're looking at over the next day or so. There will be places where the river will be spilling out of its banks, there may be some road closures."
Cowlitz PUD was nearly in the clear by midafternoon today.
"We're just going around doing a bunch of cleanup work now," said Cowlitz County PUD spokesman Dave Andrew. "Right now, we have virtually everybody on," he said, adding that only about 20 of the 6,000 customers who lost power during the storm were still in the dark at midafternoon. Earlier in the day, Kelso High and Coweeman Middle schools lost power briefly. Officials at the schools said the schools were able to continue teaching with natural light in many cases.
At noon Monday, the Lewis County Sheriff's Office issued a press release asking residents "who live near rivers, or large bodies of water" to voluntarily evacuate.
The Boistfort, Doty and Pe Ell areas are "under water" due to "severe flooding" which is "depleting local resources," the press release said. The Lewis County Sheriff's Office requests that any residents who live in flood-prone areas evacuate immediately.
Cowlitz County issued a boil water notice for Ryderwood customers after a main water line was washed out by a creek, said Ken Cachelin, Cowlitz County utilities engineer.
Cachelin said the break had been isolated, but Ryderwood residents would have to boil water for several days until the risk of infection had passed. He also said crews had to unplug a water intake at the plant.
Highway 30 was closed from the west end of Clatskanie to the Columbia-Clatsop county line, said Dave Thompson of Oregon Department of Transportation. Traffic also was rerouted in downtown St. Helens. A separate report said Oregon Highway 47 also had flooding in places.
Many roads throughout the Lower Columbia were partially or completely closed due to flooding and downed trees.
"The storm hit us a little harder than was anticipated," said Neal Deckman, road operations Manager for Cowlitz County Public Works.
Deckman said closed roads included Westover Drive, Lomar, Alpha Drive, Weststock Road, Washburn Road and the back end of Canal Road.
Also affected were Ostrander Road, Lupke Road, Parker Road, Carnine Road, Cline Road, Sightly Road, Agren Road, South Fifth Avenue in Kelso, South Sixth in Kelso. A mudslide closed Kalama River Road earlier in the day near the lower fish hatchery, but the road has been reopened, officials said.
"Until we see a break in the rain, we're not going to see any of this getting better," Deckman said.
By midafternoon today, water covered part Alpha Drive in Kelso, creeping up the driveways of five homes. One of those residents, Bree Markey, 30, said by phone this afternoon that high water was keeping her from her classes at Lower Columbia College.
Markey has only lived in the home for a year, but her grandmother has lived there for decades, she said. The home is elevated and escapes water damage each season.
"We deal with it every year," she said, although she added she wasn't expecting this much flooding until January.
Across the street from Markey, Mina Bienapfl, 60, said her 13-year-old son missed school today because the bus couldn't make it through Alpha Drive, which county road crews blocked because of water over the roadway.
Bienapfl luckily had the day off, but she doubts she'll go to work Tuesday if the waters don't recede and she can't get her vehicles out of the driveway.
"Well, we're stranded," she said. "I'm not going to chance it unless I have to."
Despite the inconvenience, Bienapfl seemed at peace with the extreme weather.
"I just figure it's Mother Nature," she said. "You can't be mad at Mother Nature."
North of Kelso, about 200 feet of West Stock Road was submerged where it passes under the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks off Pleasant Hill Road. Water, likely overflow from nearby Ostrander Creek, spread out through grass, trees and fencing on nearby land.
Clatskanie Schools will remain closed Tuesday, according to a district press release.
Castle Rock schools will start at 10 a.m. Tuesday, with no morning or evening kindergarten.
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