NorthWest?

[TonyAmalfitano]

How are you guys from the northwest making out with the storms? I hope all is well with your family, home, and boat, in that order too!

[DougSea]

I second that!

Hope you're all well up there. Saw some of the flooding pictures on the news, not nice!

[Mariner]

I'm actually doing just fine. I haven't been down to the boat to check on it but I think mom and dad would have said something if there was any problem. The strong winds that were predicted did not materialize, so it's just been rain. Lots and lots of rain.

I've avoided freeway travel as much as possible, though my job has me commuting this week about 30 minutes away from home, which is not normal. I took my girlfriend to the airport on Sunday and the drive back was truly a frightening experience. The freeway was more like a river, there was so much standing water. Interstate 5 is closed in Southeast Washington as it is currently under 10' of water. They don't expect to open it until Friday, but rumors are that it will probably clear up sooner than that (maybe tomorrow afternoon). The problem is that the Puget Sound Basin, where most of this rain is falling, is blocked in on the East by the Cascade mountains. In the winter, there are only three routes open to drivers to get over the mountains, and only I-90 is a truly reliable safe thoroughfare. The rest usually require chains and extremely slow speeds, even when they're NOT being dumped on by mountains of snow. One of those routes, SR-12 (White Pass), has apprently been blocked by a mudslide, though I don't know how serious. I-90 goes over Snoqualmie Pass, which, due to it's funnel shape, is known for extremely heavy rain and snow, so it could become blocked at any time. I-5 is the only lowland route out of the basin. Right now, the only way to get in or out of Western Washington is via I-90 or Stevens Pass (unless you go up to Vancouver and take the TCH to Calgary). That is getting a lot of attention, as it severly impacts our economy which is driven by our trade routes to the far east. However, it's not like we're in any danger of running out of food stuffs or anything like that!

As for street flooding, I've been surprised I haven't seen more. Even last year, clogged storm drains nearly caused my basement to flood, but that hasn't been as much of a problem this time.

Personally, due to the danger of lahars following a volcanic eruption of nearby Mt. Rainier, I've always chosen to live and work well away from the river valleys. Thus, large-scale flooding doesn't really usually affect me. Those areas usually tend to be much lower cost (and lower income) because anyone who lived through the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980, knows they're a bad place to live.

[TD]

Everything is great at my little domain also. Like Mariner said the winds of about 80 mph on the coast didn't make it to us. I am also parked in the river & have some protection. I did go down and check the boat, which was fine, but I could tell it was getting lonesome and wanted to do some fishing. I checked my twins and they were wondering when they would get some refreshments since I do this every fall, but I told them in a week or two.
Thanks for looking out for us in the NW & hope all of you have a Merry Christmas. I normally do not write much but, I cannot resist echoing the support to our troops. All soldiers are my American heroes and I tell them that whenever I see one.

[Elizabeth Ann]

Yeah lots of rain! Here's a youtube video that a friend in Seattle put up.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=j8DYVGAaWQ0

[Mariner]

While the rain seems to have largely stopped, and the waters are receeding, it looks like tomorrow's expected re-opening of I-5 will not happen. The phrase used by the WSDOT spokesperson was "several more days" for cleanup, damage assessment, and repairs.

This is a good video that summarizes much of the news coverage, but appears to have been made before I-5 closed, which is the major news story now.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=riZcu9DtGgA