Area north of county sees brunt of storm

Lavonne Wheatley, 88, is rescued from her home near Cougar after Speelyai Creek flooded Wednesday. (STEVEN LANE/The Columbian)

STEVEN LANE/The Columbian Lavonne Wheatley, from left in boat, and neighbors Leanne Church and Steve Church are rescued from their homes near Cougar.

Mother Nature spared Clark County from most heavy rain and flooding problems Wednesday, but areas to the north were less fortunate.

Woodland, Kelso, Kalama, the Toutle area — and especially Lewis County — bore the brunt of the storms. A 20-mile section of Interstate 5 was closed by flooding, including the Centralia and Chehalis areas.

As of Wednesday night, officials had reported no injuries due to the storms in Clark and Cowlitz counties.

Three people who live in the 14800 block of Lewis River Road near Cougar were threatened Wednesday afternoon when creek water rose around their homes, officials said.

Fearing that a berm would break and send several feet of water into the homes, officials called for a technical rescue team from the Vancouver Fire Department and Clark County Fire District 6 at about 2 p.m.

After rushing to the scene, firefighters fashioned a rope system to the homes, then waded along the ropes towing a Zodiac boat, said Chief Gary Stuart with Cowlitz-Skamania Fire District 7 in Cougar.

Lavonne Wheatley, 88, was taken to safety in the three-hour operation, as were a couple who live next door, Stuart said.

BNSF Railway closed its route from Vancouver to Seattle for Amtrak passengers, at least until this evening, said spokesman Gus Melonas.

Freight traffic was allowed on that route, but was delayed by a 50-foot-long mud- and rock slide near Ostrander.

As for the east-west railway route, trains continued but supervisors were watching it closely for safety reasons, Melonas said.

A washout also took out the railway’s line at Stampede Pass, he said.

In Woodland, residents of about 20 homes along the Lewis River were asked to evacuate.

Longtime Woodland resident Noel Johnson said the city’s airport along the river flooded.

“When we left, (the water) was coming up fast, with logs, and we even saw a pretty good-sized shed that came down the river,” Johnson said.

The Lewis River at Ariel near Merwin Dam, where flows typically are 7,530 cubic feet per second, was running at 40,300 at 8 p.m.

However, Johnson said the 1996 flood in Woodland was “so much worse.”

Also in Woodland, folks who live in a mobile home park and RV park in the 2000 block of Lewis River Road were asked to evacuate.

Moving north, Kalama River Road was closed near I-5, with motorists detouring through the town to drive upstream.

In south Kelso, officials asked several thousand people who live on both sides of I-5 to evacuate, said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Cowlitz County.

People who live in the Toutle area also were asked to evacuate, Murphy said.

No major problems were reported in the Yacolt area, said Bryan Leake, operations officer for North Country Emergency Medical Services.

However, he said, state Highway 503 was washed out on the Cowlitz County side.

In Washougal on Wednesday night, neighbors were helping place sandbags in the area of L Drive and North 28th Street, said Fire Chief Ron Schumacher.

“I believe the (Washougal) river has reached flood stage,” Schumacher said about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. “We’ll watch it overnight.”

He said firefighters were delivering sandbags to area residents.

Mick Shutt, spokesman for Clark Public Utilities, said he was aware of no major outages as of Wednesday night.

Skamania County Undersheriff Dave Cox said, “We’ve really fared well compared to Lewis County.”

He said state Highway 14 was clear, with no major rock slides reported.

There was high water in a residential area of North Bonneville.

The Gifford Pinchot National Forest reported Wednesday that a slide had closed Forest Road No. 90 just east of the Swift power canal.

Tom Mulder, manager of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, said the Forest Service suspects there are additional slides farther east.

The heavy rain had snow melting fast on Mount St. Helens. The south and west sides of Mount St. Helens are particularly susceptible to landslides.

In other developments:

n Green Mountain School will start two hours late this morning, said bus driver Nolan Wheeler. Pup Creek Road, the main route for the school’s three buses, has been flooded with about a foot of water, he said.

n In the Amboy area Wednesday, there was a sinkhole, but parents picked up their children from school. The storm was more powerful in north Clark County, where some minor flooding was reported. Buncombe Hollow Road was reported to be closed by a landslide, cutting off access to seven homes.

n Landslides in north Clark County blocked two rural roads, cutting off access to a number of homes, a Clark County spokesman said Wednesday.

North of Amboy, Columbia Tie Road was closed by a slide at noon Wednesday about 1.9 miles north of the intersection with Cedar Creek Road, county spokesman Jim Gladson said.

The East Fork Lewis River near Heisson on Wednesday evening was running about 12 times faster than normal.

Residents are urged to call 911 in case of an emergency. People whose property is damaged are asked to take photos for possible future claims.

Craig Brown, Michael Andersen, Isolde Raftery, Dave Kern, Tom Vogt and Allen Thomas contributed to this story. John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.