Thousands flee flooding in western Washington

[WhiteTara]

Source: cnn

Historic floods in western Washington have pushed thousands to evacuate, caused the closure of a major interstate and threatened to crest every river and stream in the area, according to authorities.

As much as 13 inches of rain had fallen in some areas in western Washington on Wednesday, the National Weather Service office in Seattle, Washington, said.

The situation has been exacerbated by unseasonably high temperatures that have caused a large amount of snow to melt.

"We have had a lot of heavy rain fall, and with the melted snow we have, rivers have breached the all-time record high," said Danny Mercer, a forecaster with the Seattle office of the National Weather Service.

snip

Authorities have also issued a voluntary evacuation for 25,000 people around the city of Fife, about five miles south of Tacoma.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/weather/01/08/washington.floods/

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will we have another Katrina?

[grasswire]

1. as we write this, a cousin in the mountains is out in his Bronco trying to ...

...rescue his neighbors' cattle and horses. Another family member was unable to come south from Seattle today by Amtrak, and I-5 is flooded and impassable, too. Wot a mess.

[WhiteTara]

4. I hope they are all okay!

they say amtrak is shut down from Portland to Seattle and will be for a couple of days.

[Alamuti Lotus]

2. Worse than last year (which was terrible)

Down in mid-valley Oregonistan (secret remote location), we're not so much getting these flooding rains as very heavy winds -- just clocked a gust of about 70mph, which was the highest so far tonight.. (and just a minute ago I noticed 77mph)

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. This is some serious shit

FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
1048 PM PST WED JAN 07 2009

...THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN
WASHINGTON...

SKOOKUMCHUCK RIVER NEAR BUCODA AFFECTING LEWIS AND THURSTON
COUNTIES.
SKOOKUMCHUCK RIVER NEAR CENTRALIA AFFECTING LEWIS COUNTY.
NEWAUKUM R NR CHEHALIS AFFECTING LEWIS COUNTY.
CHEHALIS RIVER AT CENTRALIA AFFECTING LEWIS COUNTY.
CHEHALIS RIVER NEAR GRAND MOUND AFFECTING THURSTON COUNTY.
CHEHALIS RIVER AT PORTER AFFECTING GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY.
CARBON RIVER NEAR FAIRFAX AFFECTING PIERCE COUNTY.
PUYALLUP RIVER NEAR ORTING AFFECTING PIERCE COUNTY.
PUYALLUP RIVER AT PUYALLUP AFFECTING PIERCE COUNTY.
NISQUALLY RIVER NEAR NATIONAL AFFECTING LEWIS AND PIERCE COUNTIES.
NISQUALLY RIVER AT MCKENNA AFFECTING PIERCE AND THURSTON COUNTIES.
DESCHUTES RIVER NEAR RAINIER AFFECTING THURSTON COUNTY.
COWLITZ RIVER AT PACKWOOD AFFECTING LEWIS COUNTY.
COWLITZ RIVER AT RANDLE AFFECTING LEWIS COUNTY.
COWLITZ RIVER BELOW MAYFIELD DAM AFFECTING LEWIS COUNTY.
CHEHALIS RIVER NR DOTY AFFECTING LEWIS COUNTY.

.FLOOD BULLETIN NO. 38

SOUTH WEST REGION

HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON OVERNIGHT. ANOTHER
2 TO 4 INCHES IS FORECAST FOR THE MOUNTAINS. THE HEAVY RAIN WILL LET
UP THURSDAY MORNING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

DO NOT DRIVE CARS...TRUCKS...OR SUVS THROUGH FLOODED AREAS...THIS IS
THE CAUSE OF MOST FLOOD RELATED DEATHS IN WASHINGTON. BE ALERT FOR
RAPID CHANGES AND MONITOR DEVELOPMENTS BY LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL MEDIA.

&&
WAC067-081347-
/O.EXT.KSEW.FL.W.0032.000000T0000Z-090111T0623Z/
/CGMW1.3.ER.090108T0457Z.090109T0600Z.090110T2123Z.NR/
1048 PM PST WED JAN 07 2009
...FLOOD WARNING EXTENDED UNTIL SATURDAY EVENING...

THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR
THE CHEHALIS RIVER NEAR GRAND MOUND
* UNTIL SATURDAY EVENING.
* AT 10:00 PM WEDNESDAY THE STAGE WAS 14.2 FEET.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 14.0 FEET.
* MINOR FLOODING IS OCCURRING. THE FORECAST IS FOR MAJOR FLOODING.
* FORECAST...THE RIVER WILL CONTINUE TO RISE AND CREST NEAR 19.6 FEET
AROUND 10 PM THURSDAY. THE RIVER WILL FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE
SATURDAY EARLY AFTERNOON.
* IMPACT...AT 19.0 FEET...THE CHEHALIS RIVER IN THURSTON COUNTY WILL
CAUSE SEVERE NEAR RECORD FLOODING...WITH DEEP AND SWIFT FLOOD
WATERS INUNDATING THE INDEPENDENCE VALLEY. FLOODING WILL OCCUR ALL
ALONG THE RIVER INCLUDING HEADWATERS...TRIBUTARIES...AND OTHER
STREAMS WITHIN AND NEAR THE CHEHALIS RIVER BASIN.