Video: SkyKING aerial tour of Thursday's floods

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SEATTLE - The rain subsided and the snowmelt lessened Thursday, giving hope to flood-endangered towns in Western Washington that the worst might soon be over. But thousands of residents are still out of their homes and hundreds of roads are closed by widespread flooding.

A 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5, the state's major north-south freeway, is shut down between Olympia and the Oregon line.

More than 30,000 people were urged to evacuate their homes on Wednesday in low-lying areas from Bellingham near the Canadian border to the Kelso area near the Oregon line as rivers spilled over their banks and flooded some neighborhoods.

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The stricken areas included such far-flung Seattle bedroom communities as Fife, Orting and Snohomish, but Seattle itself saw little flooding.

The state emergency management division says dozens of cities and counties - including King County - have declared emergencies.

The flooding -- some of the worst on record in Washington state -- was touched off by a combination of heavy rain of 6 inches or more and a warm spell in the mid-40s that rapidly melted the snow in the Cascade Mountains. It will be days before floodwaters recede, roads reopen and everyone who evacuated can return home.

"Most of the rivers have already crested," KING 5 Meteorologist Rich Marriot said. "There are still some major ones that haven't, but the good news is the rain has pretty much let up around Western Washington, with just a few areas of showers leftover instead of that steady, heavy rain from yesterday."

The National Weather Service has posted flood warnings for about two dozen rivers in 14 Western Washington counties, with flood warnings also in effect for seven counties on the east side of the state.

Thursday the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) activated the Regional Operations Center in Bothell to monitor recovery needs.

Mountains

Avalanche danger remained high in the Cascades, and Interstate 90 remains closed at Snoqualmie Pass until at least Friday.

Highway crews reopened U.S. 2 across Stevens Pass, making it the only east-west route available to all traffic across Washington's Cascade Mountains.

Crews also cleared multiple mudslides on U.S. Highway 12 between Packwood in Lewis County and Naches in Yakima County, allowing local traffic through that stretch.

The eastbound lane is open at milepost 130 near Packwood to travelers wanting to proceed east. Westbound is open at milepost 185, the junction of SR 410 to milepost 130 near Packwood. Oversize vehicles are prohibited.

US 12 remains closed west from Packwood, milepost 130 to milepost 97 at Morton.

King County

Rivers in East King County flooded several communities, forcing people into boats as streets in Snoqualmie and Duvall were submerged.

High water early Thursday closed State Highway 203 in East King County, cutting the last remaining route to the cities of Carnation and Duvall. In Duvall, a few medical emergencies were taken by boat to areas to the west where medical teams could access roads. "It's among the top 2 or 3 (floods)," Duvall Fire Lt. Todd Light said. "It's not as high as 1990 yet, but it's coming."

Much of the town of Snoqualmie was isolated by flooded roads.

About 1,500 residents of Snoqualmie were urged to evacuate, and about three dozen were rescued by boat.

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Chehalis resident Doug Peterson photographed this stranded van Thursday on SR-6.

Record flooding was reported on the Snoqualmie River at Carnation. The river crested at 61.5 feet early Thursday, 7.5 feet above flood stage, and was expected to fall below flood stage by Friday night, the Weather Service said.

Snohomish County

Rescue crews extracted stranded people in several towns. The National Weather Service reported major flooding on the Snohomish River at the town of Snohomish. The river was measured Thursday evening at 33.45 feet, about 8.5 feet above flood stage. A flood warning was in place until Sunday.

The county Department of Emergency Management said about 40 roads in the county were flooded, including State Highway 9.

"Snohomish County has been hit hard by this week's floods, with rivers reaching 1990 levels," County Executive Aaron Reardan said, adding he expected rivers to remain high through the weekend.

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A ballfield in Chehalis was completely submerged under flood water Thursday.

A trailer park was evacuated next to the Pilchuck River. In Snohomish, Robert Bishop, 48, and his roommates were rescued by boat from a two-story duplex that was nearly half under water.

"I thought it was fine, but it went higher than I thought," Bishop said. "It was very scary."

Pierce County

In Orting, after evaluating potential damage, Mayor Cheryl Temple and other city officials told residents and business operators Thursday afternoon that they could return to the town.

"What a difference 24 hours makes," Police Chief Bill Drake said.

Concern in Pierce County was shifting Thursday to the stability of levees and debris-damaged bridges as flooding receded along the Puyallup and other rivers, said Barb Nelson, an emergency management spokeswoman.

Authorities Wednesday had warned residents to evacuate Orting, about 10 miles southeast of Tacoma, and the surrounding valley, home to about 26,000 people. Sandbags were placed around many downtown homes and businesses as the Puyallup River neared record levels.

Jamie Hicks spent the night tending five gas-powered pumps to try to clear the water 2 1/2 feet in parts of his Orting home, about 50 yards from the Puyallup River.

"We're veterans at this. You just pump it out. There's nothing you can do. It will go down," Hicks said.

"I'm in one big drain hole," he added.

Whatcom County

A mudslide early Thursday damaged five houses along the Mount Baker Highway near Deming. Washington State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary said no one was injured, but two people were temporarily trapped in one of the houses by a downed power line.

Submitted by Taryn Hopey

Flooding in Centralia, Wash. on Jan. 8, 2009.

Scores of roads throughout the county and in Bellingham were closed by high water.

Skagit County

Dozens of roads were closed and damaged by water throughout Skagit County, and many schools were closed because of the flooding. Although the Samish River has flooded at near-record levels, the county's major river, the Skagit, was just a half foot above flood stage Thursday afternoon and only minor flooding was reported or forecast.

The state Department of Transportation reopened State Highway 20 between Sedro-Woolley and Concrete, but the road remained closed by slides east of Concrete.

Thurston and Mason counties

A Shelton man was rescued after being swept into a raging stream after his car plunged into a washout. Mason County sheriff's Deputy B. Dean Byrd said the 50-year-old man was lucky to make it through the ordeal early Thursday.

Rescue crews were spread out in Thurston County as well, plucking residents from flooded homes in the small town of Bucoda, 20 miles south of Olympia.

Lewis and Grays Harbor counties

A 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 around Chehalis was closed late Wednesday by high water, 3 feet deep in some places. By Friday, crews planned to use pumps and breach a levy to help water drain away.

Many areas devastated by floods in December 2007 faced more high water just 13 months later. A Coast Guard helicopter was used to remove some people stranded by water in eastern Lewis County.

The Chehalis, Newaukum and Skookumchuck rivers in the county were all flooding.

Jean Richardson, 71, of Centralia, said her house was on high enough ground, but she worried about other residents who were just getting back into homes after repairing damage from last winter.

Photo submitted

Rescue crews from Snohomish County responded Jan. 8 when multiple residents needed assistance evacuating their homes at the Three Rivers Mobile Home & RV Park on Elliott Rd.

"I feel so sorry for those people," she said, adding, "We're having these 100-year floods every year now."

In Grays Harbor County, sheriff's deputies rescued several people from flooding homes. Officials issued a voluntary evacuation notice for people living near rivers, including the swollen Chehalis.

"We don't want to create panic, but we don't want people that live near the river to procrastinate and have to be rescued," Lynn O'Connor, public information officer for the county's Department of Emergency Management, told the Aberdeen Daily World.

Cowlitz County

Levees along rivers in Cowlitz County were holding, officials said. Meanwhile, an evacuation order was lifted in south Kelso, near the border with Oregon.

Pacific County

High water and landslides blocked almost every highway leading out of the county. U.S. Highway 101 was opened later Thursday between Raymond and Aberdeen but remained blocked by slides south of South Bend. Storekeepers said they had plenty of water, gasoline and other supplies but could run low if roads remained closed for an extended period.

A landslide north of South Bend broke a major 12-inch water supply line Wednesday night, and residents and business operators were asked to make no use of water from the tap. Schools were closed, along with heavily water-dependent oyster canneries.

Kittitas County

In central Washington, Kittitas County was cut off from access to the west by flooding and slides in the Cascades. Emergency services officials said no serious injuries had been reported, but mudslides and avalanches damaged a number of homes and condominiums.

Flood evacuations included about 256 people in west Ellensburg and lesser numbers in low-lying areas about 10 miles west of Cle Elum and three miles east of Cle Elum, where some drivers were reported stranded in their vehicles.

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