The following bulletin is from Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency, which operates the 911 center in Clark County:
The National Weather Service in Portland has issued an updated Flood Warning for the Columbia River at Vancouver:
THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON…COLUMBIA RIVER AT VANCOUVER AFFECTING MULTNOMAH AND CLARK COUNTIES
THE COLUMBIA RIVER WILL FLUCTUATE NEAR FLOOD STAGE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS INCREASED SNOW MELT WATER FROM EAST OF THE CASCADES REACHES THE LOWER COLUMBIA AND OPERATIONS OF DAMS ON THE RIVER CHANGE.
RIVER FORECASTS ARE BASED ON OBSERVED AND FORECAST RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURES…AND INCLUDE CURRENT AND PLANNED RESERVOIR RELEASES.
At 3 PM the river stage was 15.96 feet
Flood stage is 16 feet
Minor flooding is forecast: This river will fluctuate near flood stage for the next several days, pending tides and releases from Bonneville dam. The river is forecast to stay below flood stage through Friday with the general trend of the fluctuations slowly getting higher to above flood stage. The next time the river is expected to rise above flood stage is overnight Friday. Fluctuations of one half foot below to one foot above flood stage are possible.
Impact: Near or above 16 feet, expect flooding of some lowland access roads and some parking areas near the river on Sauvie Island (Oregon). Flooding of the Renaissance trail along the river just east of the I-5 bridge near downtown Vancouver. Water in access areas to floating homes near Fairview (Oregon). Flooding along the lower Salmon Creek trail. There will be significant flooding of the banks of the Columbia river that are commonly used for camping and recreation, such as Cottonwood Beach near Washougal and on Government Island.
River currents are particularly strong and the water temperatures are very cold.
Minor Impacts So Far From Columbia River Flooding in Clark County
Posted: 26 May 2011 01:18 PM PDT
So far, the impacts from Columbia River flooding have been minor. That’s fortunate, considering that the river hasn’t spent this much time around flood stage since the last millenium.
Here’s a quick summary of impacts to Clark County:
A section of the east end of the Vancouver Waterfront Renaissance Trail is barricaded off.
The end of Tidewater Cove has taken on water.
No roadways have flooded. The lowest elevation road is the section of Columbia Way that is underneath the I-5 Bridge. It’s still a couple of feet above the water level and we don’t currently expect that to flood.
The park areas that are impacted are the Salmon Creek Greenway and Captain William Clark Park in Washougal.
The access to the Steamboat Landing dock in Washougal is inundated.
Vancouver Lake is running high, and some of the park areas around the lake are taking on water.
We are in communication with our public works and parks officials who are keeping a close eye on the river and inundated areas. The forecast calls for the river to remain around flood stage for several days. Please be very cautious if you are involved in any activities on or around the Columbia River.
