Flooding overwhelms Pacific Northwest

The warm-weather system that rises from the South Pacific and roars into the cool Pacific Northwest most Novembers is known as the “Pineapple Express,” but there is nothing sweet about it this year.

Drenching rain, record flooding and highway-closing mudslides have wreaked havoc in western Washington and Oregon in recent days, and claimed at least one life, that of a 20-year-old elk hunter who died when his pickup truck was swept into the Cowlitz River on Monday.

Even as the rain subsided here Tuesday, officials cautioned that some swollen rivers in the area may cause even more damage in coming days.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski issued emergency declarations for parts of their states, with National Guard units activated to carry out evacuations and rescues in small towns surrounded by the floodwaters.

Polling places in a few areas of Washington had to be shut down, raising the possibility that close races here might not be resolved until voters in flooded areas had their say. Oregon conducts elections by mail, so most voters there had already cast ballots.

Gregoire, after an aerial survey of the damage in Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, said she felt “very, very positive” about rescue and relief efforts.

“People here know when to call for help and when not to,” she told reporters in Mount Vernon. “It’s worked exactly as it should -- federal, state, local.”

Hundreds of volunteers had gathered in Mount Vernon to erect a 1,400-foot-long wall of sandbags.

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The Skagit River crested at 39.77 feet, slightly less than it did during the last major flood, in 2003, which caused about $16 million in property damage.

Along the Oregon coast, in Tillamook County, mudslides, fallen trees and flooding closed several important roads.

At Gleneden Beach, crews with bulldozers and backhoes dumped rocks and fill along the eroding shore, hoping to keep several vacation homes from sliding into the Pacific Ocean.

Rainstorms propelled by the Hawaiian air currents also caused severe flooding in southwestern British Columbia and led to the evacuation of about 500 residents in the province.

The National Weather Service said that today and Thursday should be relatively dry but that another Pineapple Express system could bring more rain by the weekend.

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sam.howe.verhovek@latimes.com