Lewis County Sirens.com

The 2001 Honda Civic is parked in between the two houses n south Chehalis.  / Courtesy photo

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The flood warning for the Chehalis River around the Twin Cities is for tonight and tomorrow, but one household woke up bright and early this morning to find their cars nearly submerged in their driveway.

It was raining hard Sunday at bedtime, and had rained all day, Chehalis resident Gretchen Reyna said.

“I got up at 6 (o’clock), looked out the window and thought, ‘oh my gosh’,” Reyna said. “Yeah, it was up to the windows.”

The Pontiac she and her husband share, her 16-year-old son’s Honda Civic and her older son’s Honda were all practically under water, she said. A neighbor found their car in a similar situation, she said.

The family lives on Southwest Pacific Avenue, in the area behind Jack-in-the-Box and the Best Western Motel, off the 13th Street freeway exit. Parking lots of some of the businesses along Interstate Avenue were flooded as well, she said.

Fortunately, none of the water came into their home, a rental they just moved into a week ago. The driveway is lower than the house, she said.

“We talked to our landlady today, she said she’s been talking to the city for a long time about the storm drains,” Reyna said. “She’s livid. She’s already filed a claim.”

She was told it might have been a plugged culvert, or something similar, Reyna said.

The 39-year-old social worker who works in Olympia, said their landlady rented them a car today, so they could get to work. The family had only liability insurance on their vehicles, so it won’t be as simple as replacing them, she said.

“Obviously they’re ruined,” she said. “We’re going to try to dry them out, to see if we can salvage anything.”

The National Weather Service yesterday issued a flood watch for rivers in Western Washington, including in Lewis County, such as the upper Cowlitz River, the Newaukum River and the Chehalis River.

The alert was upgraded to a warning today. Numerous roads and streets were closed today with water over them, especially downtown Centralia.

This evening, at the Chehalis Fire Department, the crew was waiting, prepared for whatever the rising river might bring. But they’d had no weather related calls.

Some streets in Chehalis were closed, the usual ones such as Southwest Chehalis Avenue, and Kresky Avenue, Firefighter Derrick Paul said.

Firefighter Steve Emrich, whose own home is along the Chehalis River, said so far, their shift and the river have been “pretty benign.”

The weather service’s statement issued at 9:30 p.m. tonight, predicts the Chehalis River at Centralia will rise above flood stage about 9 o’clock in the morning. Emrich knows it will hit Chehalis some time before that.

The river is expected to crest near 65 feet about an hour later and then fall back below flood stage in the late morning. The peak has been revised downward by two feet since this morning’s forecast.

The results should be shallow flooding of farm lands and some roads; the roads include Airport Road, Florida Avenue in Chehalis and Military Road in Centralia, according to the weather service.

The upper Cowlitz River at Randle and Packwood appears to have crested well below flood stage.

The Newaukum River through Onalaska, Napavine and Chehalis crested this afternoon at just over 13 feet, about a half foot below its 1996 record. At least two homes on Rosebrook Road got water inside.

The Skookumchuck River at Bucoda is cresting in the “moderate” flood stage; and is forecast to crest in Centralia around 4 a.m. just below what’s considered a minor flood stage.

Monitor the changing conditions for yourself, using links always available on the right-hand sidebar of this news site under “Other useful web links. Direct from the National Weather Service.

• “Weather alerts, forecasts“: Click on the map to find your current and forecast temperature and other weather information, as well as alerts for hazardous weather conditions.

• “River levels“: Graphs show you what level your river has been at, where it’s at right now and where it is projected to be.

• Also, quickly and easily get information directly from others in the community by viewing or joining Lewis County Sirens on Facebook.

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For more, read “Water, water everywhere, but little damage in Centralia so far” from Monday January 5, 2015, here
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The Reyna’s Pontiac and Honda sit in their driveway.

Lynette Brooks snapped this photo of Centralia College Boulevard just before noon today.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Despite the flooded streets in Centralia, the fire department has answered only aid calls today, except for helping with one evacuation this morning.

“We assisted some folks, who had trouble getting out of their home, because of the high water,” Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Scott Weinert said. “We drove in and helped them out, and a couple of animals, I believe.”

That was on the 600 block of North Gold Street around 8 a.m.

China Creek which runs through town overflowed its banks in numerous places, and has been the primary problem today, according to the city of Centralia. Many flooded streets were closed.

The water level seemed to be going down near the Pearl Street Fire station, Weinert said this afternoon.

“And it’s not raining now, so that’s a good sign,” Weinert said.

At Centralia City Hall, water came up through the floor, through cracks in the concrete, earlier today, according to city emergency center spokesperson detective Patty Finch.

“It’s all cleaned up, no damage, just wet carpet,” Finch said this afternoon.

The flood warning on the Skookumchuck River has been lifted, and the river is going down, Finch said.

Finch said she’s heard of some businesses downtown that got water inside, including perhaps Bethel Church she thought. Mostly in between Tower Avenue and Pearl Street, and Hanson and Magnolia streets, she said.

The Red Cross notified Finch they were called by someone who had water in their home, a basement apartment off Magnolia Street, she said.

The city’s Emergency Operations Center  is closing down at 5 p.m. and there are no current plans to reopen it, Finch said.

Finch offers this message: Citizens within the city of Centralia can call and report any water damage to homes and businesses to the city’s Community Development Department tomorrow by calling (360) 330-7662.

Paperwork for water damage can be completed over the telephone; if this incident is later determined to be a eligible for benefits, Finch states.

The Skookumchuck and the Chehalis Rivers meet up in Centralia.

A flood warning remains in effect for the Chehalis River at Centralia through tomorrow evening, according to the National Weather Service. Minor flooding is predicted for Chehalis and on downstream to Grays Harbor.

At Centralia, the river is expected to crest near 67 feet about 1 a.m. and fall below flood stage about 4 a.m., the weather service states.

“At 65 feet, the Chehalis River in Lewis County will cause shallow flooding of farm lands and some roads,” the forecasters note. “Roads include Airport Road, Florida Avenue in Chehalis and Military Road in Centralia.”

Monitor the changing conditions for yourself, using links always available on the right-hand sidebar of this news site under “Other useful web links. Direct from the National Weather Service.

• “River levels“: Graphs show you what level your river has been at, where it’s at right now and where it is projected to be.

• “Weather alerts, forecasts“: Click on the map to find your current and forecast temperature and other weather information, as well as alerts for hazardous weather conditions.

• Also, quickly and easily get information directly from others in the community by viewing or joining Lewis County Sirens on Facebook.

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For more, read, “Centralia officials warn motorists about standing water” from Monday January 5, 2015, here

Water across North Pearl Street begins to recede about noon. / Courtesy photo by Riverside Fire Authority

Updated at 1:40 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Remember early January in 2009, when the water from flooded swamplands next to Interstate 5 near 13th Street in Chehalis spilled onto the freeway, shutting down the normally busy north-south corridor?

Anyone in the Newaukum River Valley remember the winter before, the morning of Dec. 3, 2007?

How about February 8, 1996?

Weather forecasters say snow, changing to rain late tonight in the mountains, means flooding is possible tomorrow, for some of Western Washington.

While the flood watch notes the upper Cowlitz River in Lewis County is among those at greatest risk, the prediction service’s current graph shows flooding of the Newaukum River could surpass each of those three events, by an inch or two.

The National Weather Service urges the public to stay tuned to its website for further updates.

The heavy rainfall would also lead to a moderate risk of landslides, according to the weather service.

In January 2009, the combination of water on Interstate 5 and mudslides on U.S. Highway 12 stranded large numbers of long haul truckers in places such as Mary’s Corner and near Spiffy’s restaurant south of Chehalis.

A flood watch is in place from late tonight through late tomorrow night, meaning flooding is not imminent or occurring, but people should be ready to act quickly if a warning is issued.

Information published by the weather service at 4:20 a.m. today suggests the storm’s total precipitation will probably be 3 inches to 7 inches in the Cascade and Olympic mountains.

If the forecast is correct, moderate flooding could occur on the Cowlitz River at Randle; minor flooding could occur on the Chehalis River at Centralia; and minor to moderate flooding could occur on the Skookumchuck River.

The forecasters do say an episode of widespread major flooding is unlikely. Rivers would probably crest late tomorrow and tomorrow night, they note.

The Newaukum River’s headwaters begin outside of Onalaska and the waterway winds through northern Napavine to just west of Interstate 5 where it parallels the freeway heading north to meet in Chehalis with the Chehalis River.

Dig out your rubber boots.

The current prediction is the Newaukum River could begin to spill over its banks around 6 o’clock tomorrow morning and crest around 3 p.m. at 13.67 feet.

The record was on Feb. 8, 1996 at 13.54 feet.

On Jan. 7, 2009, the river reached 13.49 feet and on Dec. 3, 2007, it crested at 13.45 feet.

Monitor the changing conditions for yourself, using links always available on the right-hand sidebar under “Other useful web links. Direct from the National Weather Service.

• “River levels“: Graphs show you what level your river has been at, where it’s at right now and where it is projected to be.

• “Weather alerts, forecasts“: Click on the map to find your current and forecast temperature and other weather information, as well as alerts for hazardous weather conditions.

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Note: Any neighbors around the Newaukum River Valley care to share wisdom from those previous floods?

How bad was it where you live? What did you do to get ready, or during, that worked well for you? What might you do different this time, next time?

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Newaukum River graph at 2 p.m. today. / From the National Weather Service