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Watch water, land as rain intensifies

Officials warn of the risks from both flooding and sliding

By Mark Bowder, Columbian Metro Editor
Published: January 16, 2011, 12:00am

With a soggy Saturday slogging into a sopping Sunday, officials are warning about possible flooding and landslides as the rain intensifies today.

The National Weather Service issued an advisory for urban and small-stream flooding in Clark County late Saturday as radar and rain gauges showed heavy rain across the region.

Pearson Airpark had seen 0.8 of an inch of rain as of 7 p.m. Saturday, with forecasts of another 1.5 inches by Monday, the heaviest rain expected this morning.

That volume of rain, coupled with runoff from melting snow as freezing levels rise to 8,000 feet, had already prompted a flood watch for a number of rivers in Oregon and Southwest Washington, including the Cowlitz River.

The wet weather has also prompted warnings about the possibility of powerful debris flows, especially in mountainous areas, bases of steep hillsides, road cuts or other steep excavated areas or places where slides or debris flows have happened before.

“Some areas are more hazardous than others when the danger of landslides is high,” James Roddey, Earth Sciences Information Officer for the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. “People know that if there’s a flood warning, they should stay away from the river. We also want them to start thinking about staying away from steep slopes during intense rainstorms.”

The Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency reported no significant problems from Saturday’s rain, though standing water on Interstate 5 was blamed for a multi-vehicle crash at 3:11 p.m. in the southbound lanes of the Interstate 5 Bridge.

The Washington State Patrol reported that a car approaching the bridge hydroplaned on water and crashed into a Jersey barrier before spinning out across all three lanes of traffic and being hit by a truck and two cars. The driver of the first car, Scott L. Tucker, 39, of Vancouver, was taken to Southwest Washington Medical Center as a precaution and released. No one else was reported injured.

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Columbian Metro Editor