Flooding Hwy 101 near Seaside
It appears that ODOT’s need to create some wetlands to make up for wetlands they’re paving over somewhere else is going to fix a long running problem south of Seaside. Highway 101 at high tide south of that coastal town. It floods every time the tides and the rains join forces; but that commuter-hostile combination may be ending very soon.
The story is provided by reporter Lori Tobias at the Oregonian: Click here.
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Photo: The Oregonian
When the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ruled last week that there was not enough private property damage or destruction to trigger federal financial help following recent rains and mudslides, it left some Lincoln County residents with no where to go. There was plenty of road damage, yes, and FEMA will cover that, but no private property losses. And for those like Colleene Russell of Burnt Woods, whose house was hammered by a mud slide and with her insurance company not covering flood or landslides, she’s just left, literally, out in the cold.
The Oregonian’s Lori Tobias has her frustrating story as well as a few others. Click here.
Click photos to enlarge
Now that the rains have taken a breather, it’s the Willamette River’s turn to swell up and head for Portland. That’s the only conclusion you can draw from these “drive by” shots from Loren and Genn Hathaway as they navigated the junction of Highways 20 and 34 just west of Philomath where Mary’s River is backing up trying to dump its load of water into the Willamette. We’re supposed to resume the “Rain Mode” clear through the week, which may make driving a bit dicey. While motoring along, keep a watchful eye out for low-lying areas filling with water. If you hit ‘em too fast, there’s no telling which way you’ll be facing coming out the other side. So keep it cautious.
While the Willamette is still officially at flood stage, it is starting to recede. Both the Alsea and Siletz Rivers are below flood stage already.
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Here’s a road through Avery Park in Philomath, just south of Highway 20. Looks like a tributary to the Willamette River got a little full and spilled out over the roads and through local yards. A number of streets in Salem also flooded, but not nearly as bad as in mid-January and March. Thanks to Loren Hathaway for showing us what our valley neighbors were experiencing with all the rainy weather. Forecast for next week is for rain off and on through next weekend. And, oh yeah, windy too. The winter that wouldn’t die, no matter what the calendar says.
Road and Driveway and Lincoln County Public Works crews were making short order of a large slide that covered the Bay Road just west of Toledo. The slide came down with mud, rock and trees early Friday. It appeared workers would have most of the road cleared by the end of Saturday with some finishing touches on Sunday.
The slide came from way up the hillside, near another slide that came down some years ago. Very steep slopes overlook that section of the Bay Road. Torrential rains in January and March have so saturated the soils that a section of the hillside has turned into a river of mud and debris.
Drift Creek Friday
Dave Cooper photo
Alsea River at Tidewater this morning
Floodwaters have begun to fall as the rains have slacked off a bit. The Siletz River is no longer at flood stage and the Alsea River at Tidewater, as you can see, has just fallen below flood stage itself. The forecast is for continued light rain which should give our watersheds time to empty out a little bit. But needless to say the ground is very soggy and slippery. A very serious slip-and-fall hazard is everywhere out there.
The Siletz River is falling rapidly, far faster than was forecasted. However, additional heavy rains could push river levels up temporarily. But it appears that the worst is over on the Siletz. Rain is forecasted Saturday, but only light rain is forecasted through the middle of next week so river levels can be expected to subside.
101 flooding, Gearhart, 2009
The Oregonian photo
With persistent heavy rains behind us, and more in front of us, a flood watch has been issued for most of Western Oregon. Reports out of Port Orford say that a big mud slide has completely blocked Highway 101 just south of Port Orford. The Oregonian has details. Click here.
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Drift Creek, Lincoln City, Dave Cooper photos
Siletz River right at flood stage
But only minor flooding
Rivers and streams along the Central Coast are rising toward flood stage but are expected to peak at “minor” flooding stage which means only low lying areas and farmlands are likely to go underwater for a time. However, as you can see from the hydrograph from NOAA, the flooding should subside very quickly over the weekend.
As always, stay away from banks of such swollen streams since if you fall in, you’ll be swept downstream very quickly and hypothermia disables anyone’s ability to swim. Drowning is all but certain.
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