West Side rivers flood as rains ease

SEATTLE – Drenching rains that sent flood waters surging through numerous towns in Western Washington eased Tuesday but the high water forced emergency rescues in several counties.

The flooding changed the course of the Cowlitz River near Packwood in southwest Washington, where at least one house toppled into the river Tuesday; no one was injured.

The storms that began last weekend have claimed at least one life, a 20-year-old elk hunter who died Monday when his truck was swept into the Cowlitz. There was no immediate report on damage.

Gov. Chris Gregoire took a helicopter tour of the flooded landscape and climbed aboard a National Guard truck for a drive through tiny, flooded Hamilton in eastern Skagit County in northwest Washington.

“I feel very, very positive about what’s going on here in Skagit County,” the governor said during a stop in nearby Mount Vernon. On Monday, she declared a state of emergency for 18 counties, freeing up state assistance, including National Guard troops. “People here know when to call for help and when not to … it’s worked exactly as it should – federal, state and local.”

Volunteers in Mount Vernon worked through the night Monday to build a sandbag wall downtown next to the river after Mayor Bud Norris declared a civil emergency.

Hamilton residents evacuated to shelters as 4-5 feet of water surged through downtown. Still, the flood waters appeared to have peaked several feet below the 2003 high water mark noted on a sign outside the post office. That flood caused $17 million in property damage in the Skagit County area and 3,400 households were evacuated.

Three hundred homes and rental cabins were threatened with flooding after the Cowlitz River changed course and ran through a neighborhood near Packwood at midday Tuesday, said Deputy Stacy Brown of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The river carried off a small house, Brown said.

All roads into Packwood were closed by mudslides and flooding, which made rescues more difficult but not impossible, she added.

Flood warnings were posted Tuesday on 19 Western Washington rivers. Six have already crested – the Skykomish River near Gold Bar, the Carbon River near Fairfax, the Snoqualmie River near Carnation, the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River near Arlington, the Cowlitz River at Randle and Packwood, and the Nisqually River near National – the National Weather Service reported.

The east King County towns of Snoqualmie and North Bend were also hard-hit by flood waters.

Donna Chipley of Hamilton, in Skagit County, slept in the barn Monday night with her husband and their 11 horses while flood waters filled her home.

“We have five feet (of water) in the house,” Chipley said Tuesday.

She said she was glad to be safe and dry but also sad because her husband had just recently finished repairing the 2003 flood damage.

She hopes the insurance company will find a better solution this time around.

“I think they need to raze our home or move us,” she said.

The steady drenching subsided to showers in many areas Tuesday as the so-called “Pineapple Express,” a warm weather system from the South Pacific, moved east.