Story Photos
 Ruth and Ken Simmons watch floodwaters race past their home on Highway 47 a few miles outside Clatskanie on Monday. Greg Ebersole / The Daily News
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Deadly storm closes I-5
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 7:31 AM PST
By Thacher Schmid and Erik Olson
Printable version
E-mail this articleRaging floodwaters and windstorms have cut off Interstate 5 near Chehalis, cut off power to thousands and forced scores to evacuate their homes by helicopter in Western Washington and Oregon.
The Washington Department of Transportation shut down I-5 at exit 68 11 miles south of Chehalis to exit 88 at Grand Mound north of Centralia for at least 36 hours. An agency spokeswoman said the closure could drag on longer as workers wait for the banks of the Chehalis River and Dillenbaugh Creek to recede.
It's the first complete freeway closure in the area because of flooding since 1996. Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency for all of Western Washington Monday afternoon.
Travelers won't be able to take the train headed north, either. Amtrak officials announced Monday afternoon that mudslides have halted north-south Amtrak passenger train service between Eugene and Vancouver, British Columbia. Normal service should resume Tuesday.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski also declared a state of emergency in all affected areas in Oregon, which include Columbia and Clatsop counties, according to a spokesman.
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.
Clatsop County remained cut off from outside travelers for all of Monday, according to the Oregon State Patrol.
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, West Stock Road, Washburn Road and the back end of Canal Road.
Also affected were Ostrander Road, Lubke Road, Parker Road, Carnine Road, Cline Road, Sightly Road, Agren Road and South Fifth Avenue and 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.
In Cowlitz County, the worst is over, said hydrologist Andy Bryant of the National Weather Service office in Portland. In the 48 hours since Saturday afternoon, the area saw 3.87 inches of rain. Cowlitz County should expect to see showers today, and the rain will taper off toward the end of the week, Bryant said.
The Cowlitz River is under a flood warning as of Monday, according to the National Weather Service. The river crested at Castle Rock at 4:15 p.m. at 47.35 feet, which is just below the flood stage and was expected to crest up to 23 feet in Kelso at 9 p.m., which is about a foot and a half above flood stage, according to the weather service.
"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."
By midafternoon Monday, 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 today 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.
"West Stock Road is one of the first roads to flood in Cowlitz County," said Rob Beringer, a resident who's lived on the road since 1976. "It's something we're used to."
Still, Beringer said the county should do something to help. He said the county replaced a salmon culvert in the area a few years ago, but that had no affect on the flooding problems.
Ryderwood will remain under a "boil water advisory" for the next few days, according to the Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management. Public works crews have repaired a broken waterline, but water conservation measures will continue for the next few days, according to emergency management.
Cowlitz PUD was nearly in the clear by midafternoon Monday.
About 6,000 customers lost power during the storm Monday, but nearly all were back on within the day, Cowlitz County PUD spokesman Dave Andrew said.
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.
In Woodland, exit 22 was closed because of high water, causing traffic to back up at the city's remaining open interstate exit.
Woodland resident Kevin Newell rolled up his pant legs and waded through the intersection of Gun Club Road and Statesman Drive to get home late Friday afternoon.
Attempting to drive through the large, 2-foot deep puddle proved a risky decision, as he learned 20 minutes earlier.
"Water started coming in through the floorboard," he said.
The same area flooded in the infamous 1996 flood.
"In 1996, I guess it came up to the curb down the whole street. Not too much higher than this," he said, pointing out that most homes sit approximately 4 feet above the curb line. His own house wasn't touched by the flood waters, he said.
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 requested that any residents who live in flood-prone areas evacuate immediately.
In south Lewis County, power outages remained at a minimum, said Lewis County PUD General Manager Dave Muller. The majority of the damage to powerlines occurred in the western part of the county, he said.
In Wahkiakum County, 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.
The Grays River area in the west county appeared to be very hard hit by flooding and was cut off.
Phone service, including 911 calls, was out countywide for much of Monday, as was the power. Early in the day, rescuers were using a Hovercraft to rescue stranded residents in the Loop Road area of Grays River, according to Pfenniger. No reports on the rescue attempts could be obtained later in the day.
"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.
Reporters Leila Summers, Stephanie Mathieu and editor Andre Stepankowsky contributed to this story.
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