Thousands Flee Flooding in Northwest

A major rainstorm in the Pacific Northwest sent rivers surging over their banks Wednesday, routing thousands from their homes, shutting down a dozen major highways and causing at least two deaths, officials said.

Rushing waters spilled over an earthen dike on the Skookumchuk River in western Washington, closing a 12-mile stretch of Interstate 5 and forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 residents in Centralia, said Lewis County emergency services specialist Bob Berg.

The National Guard evacuated 200 people, including 57 residents of the Centralia Convalescent Center, Berg said. Up to 3,000 others in the town 100 miles south of Seattle left their homes on their own.

“It’s basically a 100-year storm,” said Martin Thompson, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Seattle. “We wouldn’t get something like this for another hundred years.”

The body of a 78-year-old man, an apparent drowning victim, was found floating down a street in Centralia Wednesday, Berg said. A second elderly man was killed in Centralia when his car ran through a barrier on I-5 and plunged into a rain-filled ditch.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen. In fact, I’m a lifelong resident and I’ve never seen I-5 closed,” Berg said.

“We compare back to the ’86 flood or the ’72 flood, and they just don’t match up,” Berg said. “I’ve seen roads today that aren’t just washed out or the shoulder is gone--it looks like somebody took a carving knife right across them--they’re just gone.”

Flood warnings remained in effect for half a dozen western Washington rivers, the weather service said. Nearly 500 homes were flooded along the Chehalis River, which crested 8 1/2 feet above flood stage Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Oregon Gov. Neil E. Goldschmidt declared an emergency for the northern coast and sought help from the National Guard to deal with floodwaters that damaged businesses and threatened Tillamook County hospital.

Crews had to sandbag the hospital against nearly 5 inches of rain that fell in the 24 hours ending late Tuesday night.

Five rivers that empty into Tillamook Bay overflowed, and about 25 people on the northern coast remained out of their homes Wednesday, said Paul Levesque, assistant director of emergency management for Tillamook County.

U.S. Highway 101, the main coastal route, remained closed by high water, and at least 6,000 people in northwest Oregon were without power for up to their fourth day. Coast Guard boats and National Guard trucks patrolled the highway through Tillamook, helping stranded motorists and rescuing people caught in buildings.

Showers lingered in the northern Pacific Coast region Wednesday afternoon, while a snow advisory remained in effect for the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, the weather service said.