CHEHALIS – Officials for the state Department of Transportation say a 20-mile stretch of I-5 at Chehalis will remain closed until Saturday, perhaps longer.

Contractors have been racing to fix the span of highway after it was hit hard by rapidly moving flood water Monday Night. A full mile of the freeway is still under water.

I-5 normally handles 54,000 vehicles a day. Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond warns that drivers shouldn't expect things to happen too quickly.

"One of the things we're most concerned about, is that people shouldn't have too high of expectations," she said. "We've heard that folks are reporting it may be open Thursday night."

With I-5 closed, state officials were recommending a lengthy ground 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 to seven hours. Many travelers just can't afford the time. 

Detours for local traffic between Centralia and Chehalis include long back-ups. Officials are trying to keep long-distance trucks off these roads, claiming several have jackknifed - making the situation worse.

WSDOT officials say the I-5 closure caused traffic on I-90 to double.

Officials plan to breach a levee along I-5 at Milepost 80 to let the water drain out. This will allow crews to more quickly assess and repair damages on the interstate.

KING

A full mile of Interstate 5 near Chehalis remains under water.

For Tom and Dorene Thompson, a re-opened I-5 can't come soon enough.

"I know a lot of the back roads, but I use I-5," Tom said.

In other parts of Lewis County, flood water prevented frustrated homeowners from reaching their property. Courtney Burdick searched a field for her personal belongings, but found few. Half of her home was swept yards away from its foundation during the storm.

"I have no idea what to do now," she said.

Homeowner Rick Hamilton says the flooding came in his home through the floor.

"Just all the sudden it kinda creeps up like you'd see in a scary movie," he said. "It doesn't come in the front door. It just all the sudden… the cracks and stuff… it just starts coming in."

On Wednesday, local business owners saw how their buildings held up in the storm.

"Today is what we call clean-up day," said business owner Don Saari." I think everybody's doing the same thing."

He got most of valuable items to safe ground in time, but a neighboring mattress shop lost most of its inventory in the storm.