Jan. 8 in photos: West Side floods

Our slide show today features photos from the serious flooding on the west side of our state. Associated Press photographers Elaine Thompson and Ted Warren along with Ingrid Barentine and staffers from several west side newspapers are documenting the problems.

Section:Gallery

Thu., Jan. 8, 2009

Workers scramble to remove a building log jam on the Puyallup River in Fife, Wash. as the swollen river continued its record swell on Wednesday Jan. 7, 2009. Incoming tide at the river's delta and continued rain worried officials that the river would top levees and flood neighborhoods in Fife and Puyallup, Wash.

Joshua Trujillo Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A resident keeps watch along the edge of the river as the rushing water laps at the top of the sandbags put in place to keep the river from flooding the homes just west of the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, in Carnation, Wash. Wednesday Jan. 7, 2009. When a large tree punched a hole in the bank of the Tolt River, neighbors came together to patch it with several hundred sandbags on Wednesday afternoon. Some of the neighbors said this is the highest they had seen the Tolt River in 30 years.

Mike Siegel The Seattle Times
Orting residents who were volunteering to fill sandbags stopped to a driver who had become stuck in the thick mud as he tried to pull in to retrieve his load of sandbags Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 as Issaquah Creek flooded due to heavy rain and melting snow in Orting, Wash.

John Lok Associated Press
Lavon Wheatley, from left in boat, Leanne Church and Steve Church are rescued from their homes near Cougar, Wash. after Speelyai Creek flooded all escape routes, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Vancouver Fire Heavy Rescue 81, Fire District 6 Technical Rescue and Engine 71 from Cougar helped with the rescue.

Steven Lane The Columbian
Against the advice of local law enforcement, many Orting residents, including this unidentified young couple stayed put as they watched the swollen Carbon River near the top of a levy near Orting, Wash., on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 as relentless rain caused major flooding in Orting and the surrounding areas Wednesday.

Dean Koepfler The News Tribune
Ellensburg residents Larry Birdwell and his daughter Casey Birdwell evacuate their home as flood waters rise on Dollarway Road Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 in Ellensburg, Wash. Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures as the heavy snowfall that has buried parts of the state began to rapidly melt.

Kris Holland Yakima Herald-Republic
Ray Hegel, left, and his wife Pat Hegel watch the Puyallup River rise outside a Sumner, Wash., apartment complex Wednesday Jan. 7, 2009. Sumner officials recommended many residents evacuate. The three main highways across the Cascade Range were closed and the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for a number of major rivers in Western Washington.

Ingrid Barrentine Associated Press
Arin Strom carries a sand bag to a bank along the Puyallup River in Sumner, Wash., Jan. 7, 2009. Sumner officials recommended nearly 400 residents to evacuate due to major flooding along the river. The three main highways across the Cascade Range were closed and the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for a number of major rivers in Western Washington.

Ingrid Barrentine Associated Press
Marv Bateman helps a resident move from his home at the Rainier Manor trailer park as the Puyallup River rises in Sumner, Wash., Jan. 7, 2009. Sumner officials recommended Rainier Manor residents and nearly 400 others to seek higher ground. The three main highways across the Cascade Range were closed and the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for a number of major rivers in Western Washington.

Ingrid Barrentine Associated Press
Kayakers paddle down a flooded street near downtown Snoqualmie, Wash., Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures from rapid snowmelt. At least three people were rescued by boat. The three main highways across the Cascade Range were closed and the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for a number of major rivers in Western Washington.

Elaine Thompson Associated Press
Rescue workers evacuate residents from a flooded neighborhood along McCutcheon Road near Orting, Wash. Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. The rapidly rising Puyallup River forced hundreds of people in the area from their homes.

Ted Warren Associated Press
With Voight Creek lapping at his front door and his home sandwiched between the flooding Puyallup and Carbon Rivers, Don Steed, standing in the water, decided to stay in his home with wife Barb, not pictured, in Orting, Wash. on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Relentless rain caused major flooding in Orting and surrounding areas. His son-in-law Ben Swift stands inside, ready to help him evacuate.

Dean Koepfler The News Tribune
A truck drives down flooded Interstate 5 in the Chehalis and Centralia area in southwest Washington on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009.

Bruce Ely Associated Press
The floodwaters of Dillenbough Creek cover Exit 77 of Interstate 5 Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 in Chehalis, Wash. The highway has been closed since Wednesday.

Steve Ringman Seattle Times
Kim Jones, left, gets some help from her son, Quinton Ulianich, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, as she walks from her home along railroad tracks in Chehalis, Wash. She was lucky: Her home was not flooded.

Steve Ringman Seattle Times
A large landslide destroyed Jim Ecklund's home, outside Morton, Wash., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. Ecklund lost his home, nine vehicles and his dump truck barely visible under the debris.

Doug Beghtel The Oregonian
Tom Derking, a Tillamook, Ore. resident who works at Grunder Diesel Repair along highway 101, tosses a stick for a dog named Jake, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2008 in Tillamook, Ore. Derking says this is the third flood to keep him from work since November.

Jamie Francis The Oregonian
Abel Puris holds on to his hot tub after it was picked up by floodwaters from the Chehalis River in Centralia, Wash., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009.
Water from the Skookumchuck River covers N. Pearl Street in Centralia, Wash. Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. Flooding swept across the roadway and flowed in a residential neighborhood.

Randy L. Rasmussen The Oregonian