Oregon Highways Crimped By Mudslides Heavy Rains Ease Up, But Travel Still Difficult

Rivers began cresting Monday in southwestern Oregon as heavy rains slacked off and evacuees had a chance to go home, but mudslides blocked or narrowed highways to the coast and more rain was forecast.

Mudslides on Sunday knocked one mobile home from its foundation and wrapped around four others south of Myrtle Creek, though no one was injured, and RV parks in Brookings and Myrtle Creek were evacuated.

“Right now we’re just maintaining,” Luann Urban at the Douglas County Emergency Management office in Roseburg said today. “The main readings on the South, North and mainstem Umpqua are holding or dropping slightly. The last couple of hours we’ve had no new slides. We’re working on getting roads open.”

Rain tapered off Monday as the series of tropical storms drawing moisture out of the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii passed through, said Andy Foster, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Medford. But a new series of storms was forecast for tonight through Wednesday and the threat of flooding continued.

Coming out of the northern Pacific and Gulf of Alaska, these new storms carry less moisture, but will lower snow levels to 3,000 feet in the Umpqua and Rogue basins, bringing snow to the Cascades and Siskiyous, Foster said.

Flood warnings were in effect for the Coquille River basin, the Umpqua River from Elkton to Reedsport, and the Rogue River from the Applegate River to Gold Beach.

Rivers throughout southwestern Oregon were cresting Monday and tonight as the rain tapered off, said Foster.

Getting to the southern Oregon coast was difficult with so many roads closed. U.S. 199, the main route between Grants Pass and Brookings, was closed by boulders on the road at Patrick Creek in California. Oregon 42, the southern route between Coos Bay and Interstate 5, narrowed to one lane by a slide near the Coos-Douglas County line. Slides were cleared on Oregon 38, the route between Reedsport and Interstate 5, but travelers were advised to drive with caution. It had been closed in November by slides that killed four people. Oregon 126 between Eugene and Florence was open, but high water was expected as the tide rose.