Highway reopens after rockslide

CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. – Boulders as large as cars slid down a cliff in the Columbia River Gorge, slightly injuring two women and temporarily blocking three of four lanes of Interstate 84 west of Cascade Locks, police and transportation officials said.

Janice Tuimavave, 22, of The Dalles had to be freed from her car after it was flattened by rocks, said Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings.

Nilsa Seman, 45, of Hood River was able to escape from her sport utility vehicle on her own after it was also hit by the falling boulders, Hastings said.

“Their vehicles were struck by large boulders that came down from a cliff on the south side. Some of the rocks were as large as vehicles.

“One that didn’t make it all the way down to the road was about three times that size – it was bigger than a bulldozer and about as big as a small house,” Hastings said.

Both women were treated for minor injuries at Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham, he said.

The rockslide littered the highway, punching through the concrete median separating the east- and westbound lanes.

Initially, all four lanes were closed to traffic, but both westbound lanes and one of the eastbound lanes had been reopened to traffic by Monday morning, said Dave Thompson, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The right eastbound lane was not expected to reopen until today, Thompson said.