SEATTLE - Monday's devastating rains and winds that downed trees, cut electricity and caused widespread flooding have left at least five people dead and shut down a stretch of Interstate 5 near Chehalis.

Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency Monday following a series of storms that hit hardest on the Olympic Peninsula, Kitsap County and the southwest corner of the state. The heavy rains have stopped, but most of those areas were submerged under water with many rivers continuing to flood. About 19 cities and counties have declared flooding emergencies.

"Yesterday was about how do we contain the problems; today is the human stories we're beginning to see," said Gregoire.

Gregoire said the latest storm victim was a man in Mason County. Emergency officials said he was killed Monday night when a mudslide hit a building. Two people were killed in Grays Harbor - one by a fallen tree and another by a medical problem when power was lost. Additional storm-related deaths include two hikers killed in an avalanche near Snoqualmie Pass. The hikers were killed Monday as heavy rain atop heavy snow increased the avalanche danger.

Check information on warnings, outages and road closures and school closures and delays.

Drivers across the region were immobilized by severe flooding on major and arterial roads. In Lewis County, some 300 people stranded by flood waters were either rescued by Coast Guard helicopters or boat. About 100 members of the National Guard have been called in to help with continuing rescue rescue operations.

Gregoire flew over Lewis, Mason and Grays Harbor counties and other parts of Western Washington to survey the extensive flood damage there.

"We've already had a call from the Federal Highways Administration, and our message was clear: Break out your checkbook. Because we cannot tell you the damages now, but they are obviously going to be significant," said Gregoire.

At least 80,000 Western Washington residents were without electricity Monday and more than 50,000 were still in the dark Tuesday, about 32,000 of those in Gray Harbor County, one of the hardest hit areas.

I-5 near Centralia under 10 feet of water

Flood waters closed all lanes on a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 near Centralia - the main route between Seattle and Portland.

"It's at 10 feet over I-5 - and it's not necessarily done," said Gregoire. "It looks like it's going to be equal to 1996."

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Chehalis was one of the hardest hit areas with flooding.

State officials were recommending a lengthy detour... Interstate 90 across the Cascade mountains and down U.S. 97 through central Washington to the Oregon border... a route that roughly doubles the three-hour trip from Seattle to Portland, Ore.

The freeway will remain closed at least through Wednesday, and it could be longer, officials said.

The rising Chehalis River spilled over a dike bank west of downtown Centralia overnight, prompting emergency officials to ask residents to voluntarily evacuate the area.

Jacob Mullins was working at a Tires, Inc. store when a nearby levee broke around 9 p.m. Monday. At first the water crept up, then everything broke loose.

"Snap your fingers and we were wet," said Mullins. "Instantly, it was a flood. Instantly."

Throughout Lewis County, emergency crews labored through the night to monitor and rescue people trapped in houses. Boats were used by day and global positioning system-equipped helicopters took on a bigger role after dark, in some cases plucking people from the roof of a house, sheriff's Detective Matt Wallace said.

Two Coast Guard helicopters, one each from Astoria, Ore., and Port Angeles, were used to rescue about 40 people stranded by flooding early Tuesday, mostly from Centralia about 40 miles west to Pe Ell in the coastal hills.

"Our immediate neighbors were lifted before us because they had single story houses, and they were lifted off the roof," said Dil Griffiths, evacuee.  "We were still under covers and told them to come back for us afterward."

As the water began to recede Tuesday, engineers, the state patrol and even the National Guard were assessing the mess. It is not known how extensive the damage is, how much it will cost or when it might be fixed.

Roads closed, mudslides halt train service

Other than I-5, major road closures from flooding and slides included numerous stretches of U.S. 101 along the coast and the Olympic Peninsula and U.S. 12 east of Aberdeen. Motorists are urged to follow all traffic closures and detours and to drive carefully.

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Flood waters covered the railroad tracks in Chehalis. Train service from Oregon all the way to Seattle was cancelled Tuesday due to floodwaters and mudslides on the tracks.

Mudslides halted Amtrak passenger train service between Portland and Vancouver, British Columbia, for a second day. Mudslides also cancelled Seattle Sounder train service between Everett and Seattle Tuesday.

To the south, Governor Ted Kulongoski declared a state of emergency in Oregon. Powerful storms with hurricane-force winds pounded the northern Oregon coast, knocking out transportation and communications and blocking almost all routes in the area.

While the focus so far has been on western Washington and Oregon, the National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook early Tuesday for central and northeast Oregon as well as south central and southeast Washington, with flood watches in effect until Tuesday evening as water runs off the mountains.

Rivers still rising and flooding

While the heavy rains may have stopped on Tuesday, many rivers continue to rise.

"We are continuing to see many flood warnings for many rivers around Western Washington; however, most rivers have crested, so they're not going to continue to rise," said KING 5 meteorologist Chris Warren.

But even the rivers that have crested are continuing to flood, warned Warren. Those rivers include the Satsop, Bogachiel, Elwha, Deschutes, Skokomish, Skykomish and Snoqualmie, Snohomish, Chehalis and Skagit.

"We did see record flooding along the Chehalis River, the Elwha River and the Skomomish River," said Warren.

Based on rainfall measurements at SEATAC, yesterday's rains ranked as the second wettest 24-hour period on record, with nearly 5 inches falling.

But KING 5 meteorologist Jeff Renner said there is reason to believe for the city of Seattle it was in fact the wettest 24 hour period ever.

Overall, three to six inches of rain fell across much of Western Washington. The heaviest was in Bremerton at 10.78 inches in a 24-hour period.

Renner said a trough of low pressure will allow at least scattered showers to persist Wednesday, though shower activity should diminish in the afternoon.

Grays Harbor Co., Pacific Co.still reeling from storm

Another one of the hardest hits areas was Grays Harbor County. Officials are calling it the worst storm there since the Columbus Day 1962 storm.

Winds up to 81-miles-per-hour tore up the coast and blocked virtually all highways with trees and downed power lines. As of Tuesday evening, 32,000 residents were still without power. I

Power is also out in most of Pacific County, where the cities of South Bend, Raymond, Long Beach, and Ilwaco have declared an emergency and activated their Emergency Operations Center in South Bend.

Raw sewage spills into Puget Sound

A number of sewage treatment plants were overwhelmed, including one in downtown Olympia, causing millions of raw sewage to be released into Puget Sound. It was the first time in 16 years that all wastewater entering the plant could not be treated.

Water systems also were damaged in some areas, including Montesano, where the reservoir was damaged by falling trees and about 4,700 people were advised to boil their tap water if anything appeared to be amiss.

State Ecology Department officials recommended that people avoid water in Puget Sound and adjacent marine waterways for at least a week after the rains subside.