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Melting Snow Floods Wash. State

30K asked to evacuate in west; mudslides, avalanches feared

By the Associated Press

Posted Jan 8, 2009 10:06 AM CST

(AP) – More than 30,000 people were urged to leave their flood-endangered western Washington homes as snowmelt and rain swelled rivers and caused mudslides and avalanches that engulfed neighborhoods and roadways. Warmer temperatures and heavy rains were rapidly melting the deep snow that dumped on the Cascade mountains over the weekend.

Rising waters led state highway crews to close a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 last night, and the state's three major east-west routes across the Cascade mountains are closed as well. Those routes may reopen sometime today, but authorities fear I-5, which carries 10,000 trucks a day, could be closed for days. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for about two dozen rivers in western Washington.

Water rushes past a washed out road near Blewett Pass on US Hwy. 97 in Washington yesterday.
Water rushes past a washed out road near Blewett Pass on US Hwy. 97 in Washington yesterday.   (Washington State Department of Transportation)
Rescue workers evacuate residents from a flooded neighborhood near Orting, Wash., yesterday as the rapidly rising Puyallup River forced hundreds of people in the area to evacuate.
Rescue workers evacuate residents from a flooded neighborhood near Orting, Wash., yesterday as the rapidly rising Puyallup River forced hundreds of people in the area to evacuate.   (AP Photo)
Residents of South Prairie, Wash., watch as waters from South Prairie Creek are restrained by sandbags yesterday.
Residents of South Prairie, Wash., watch as waters from South Prairie Creek are restrained by sandbags yesterday.   (AP Photo)
Against the advice of local law enforcement, many Orting residents, including this unidentified young couple, stayed put as they watched the swollen Carbon River.
Against the advice of local law enforcement, many Orting residents, including this unidentified young couple, stayed put as they watched the swollen Carbon River.   (Dean J. Koepfler)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
Shannonals
Jan 8, 2009 3:37 AM CST
Hope we don't have another flood period this spring

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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