Northwest Flood Victims Heading Home

Pacific Northwest flood victims started returning to their flooded homes Sunday for the heartbreaking task of assessing damage, and a key highway finally reopened.

The sun was out Sunday and the weather dry, in contrast to recent torrential rains that dumped up to 30 inches in four days, melted a heavy snowpack in the Cascade Mountains and triggered massive landslides.

President Clinton was scheduled to travel to Portland on Wednesday to inspect the flood damage, a White House official said.

Washington state emergency official Tom Griffith said work crews were cleaning roads and inspecting bridges.

Later Sunday, crews opened one lane in each direction on Interstate 5, the major north-south highway, which had been closed since Wednesday night.

“We’re just sort of in a transition from response to recovery,” he said. “Most of the streams and rivers except the Columbia have gone down significantly. People are starting to return and assess damage.”

The floods, the worst since 15 people were killed in 1964, left five dead and thousands homeless.

James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, toured parts of southwest Washington state Sunday after visiting Oregon on Saturday.

FEMA set up a hotline to begin distributing aid to individuals and businesses after Clinton’s disaster declaration Friday for 30 counties in Washington and Oregon.

Although waters were receding, officials predicted it would be days before rivers reach normal levels.

The Willamette River was expected to remain above flood stage until Wednesday and the Columbia was not expected to return to its banks until Friday, officials said.

Residents in the Portland area were under an advisory to conserve water because of mud in the main reservoir that houses the city’s water. The National Guard brought water to other areas that had lost their supplies.

Million-dollar homes in the Lake Oswego, Ore., area remained under water. While the Red Cross has opened more than 40 shelters throughout the region, many people were staying with friends and relatives.

The Port of Portland, the nation’s largest inland port, remained closed with ships anchored in the Columbia River.

Residents flocked to downtown Portland, visiting parks and taking pictures.

Some 12,000 residents in Keizer, north of Salem, who had been evacuated, were allowed to start returning home Sunday.