Expect heavy rain, possible floods this week
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 3:28 PM PST
By Barbara LaBoe
Printable version
E-mail this articlePut away the snow shovels and break out the rain boots. Heavy rains forecast for this week swell the Cowlitz River above flood stage at both Castle Rock and Kelso, but the water isn’t expected to threaten dikes, officials said Monday.
However, tributary creeks entering the Cowlitz may overflow their banks.
Officials will keep a close eye on river levels but said the main concern now is landslides and high winds that could knock down trees and power lines. The series of strong storms are expected to dump almost 7 inches of rain in Southwest Washington between Tuesday night and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Winds of up to 20 mph are expected Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Rains are supposed to be the heaviest from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning, said Dave Vorse, the Castle Rock public works director.
The Cowlitz River at Castle Rock is expected to crest at 53 feet early Thursday morning, according to the Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management. That’s above the flood stage of 48 feet but below what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considers the safe levee height — 57.9 feet. The top of the levee is 62.9 feet.
“They’re saying it’s going to be less than 1996,” Vorse said, referring to the February storm that year that caused wide-scale flooding in the area “But how much less we don’t know.”
The river did not flood diked Cowlitz River communities during that storm, one of the worst to hit the basin in the last century. However, surface stormwater was a problem in Castle Rock because water couldn’t be pumped out of the downtown area fast enough.
In Kelso, the Cowlitz is expected to crest at 24 feet at 10 a.m. Thursday. Flood stage is 21.5 feet in Kelso. The expected crest is also well below the safe levee height. The crest at Kelso during the February 1996 storm was 29 feet.
The Lewis River is supposed to flow very high but not reach flood stage, according to Cowlitz County officials.
The forecast has Castle Rock officials and staff meeting Tuesday to plan how to respond as needed, Vorse said.
The city’s two main storm pump systems have generators to help pump rain water out into the Cowlitz River, Vorse said. So crews will focus on landslide and power outage concerns unless things change, he said.
“Like any storm, you don’t know what the issues are going to be,” he said.
And, while the Cowlitz isn’t expected to spill over the levee, Vorse said the Whittle and Arkansas creeks could back up on the west side of the river, causing localized flooding.
Vorse recommended all residents prepare like they would for any weather emergency, including making sure they have flashlights and warm blankets in case of a power outage. Checking on neighbors who are elderly or might need more assistance also is a good idea, he said.
And, because heavy storms can cause city catch basins and stormwater systems to back up, Vorse cautioned residents not to drive through patches of backed up water until the system has a time to clear it away.
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