Weather breaks, rivers still high but receding

The Puget Sound region will get a break today and, most likely, the rest of the week from the relentless rain that pushed rivers over their banks Wednesday and prompted some areas to declare emergency status.

Flood watches for all Snohomish County rivers were lifted late Wednesday night and the Snoqualmie River was receding this morning. In the Seattle area, the wet weather will take a break today.

"We'll have clouds around and some sunbreaks, but no rain is forecast," said meteorologist Allen Kam, with the National Weather Service. "It's a lull in the weather pattern, possibly extending through next week."

The National Weather Service forecasts partly sunny skies today, with a high near 54. Tonight, the Seattle area will be mostly cloudy with low temperatures around 44.

"We're heading into your typical mid-fall weather," Kam said.

Cleanup begins

Today, in the Snoqualmie River Valley, efforts to keep the waters at bay less than 24 hours ago turned to the start of the cleanup.

Along Southeast 123rd Street, on the east edge of North Bend, water on Wednesday afternoon was standing hip-deep in parts of streets.

By this morning, streets were dry, the water gone, although public officials hadn't yet gotten around to taking down "Water over roadway" signs as residents nearby piled up heaps of sodden carpeting in their yards.

Similar scenes were repeated throughout the valley today.

A parking lot in downtown Snoqualmie, where dozens of people had worked through the day and evening Wednesday to fill sandbags, was empty today, except for an occasional car that would drive through for folks to get a look at the river's level. A six-foot heap of unused sandbags stood along one edge of the lot, no longer useful as bright sunlight replaced the gloom and rain of a day earlier.

For residents recovering from the high water, the results were familiar.

"This is our fifth or sixth time," said Matt Stone, moving mud out of his house on Southeast Park Street.

"We keep a record right here on the door," he added, walking toward a basement door. "This was '90. This was '06. This was '94. This was this year," he said, showing various lines marked on the door, including one still wet, near the bottom, showing Wednesday's level, far below marks left in previous years.

Stone and his family moved to the house along the river in 1987, and the house is built with an upstairs living area, which stays dry, while the lower level is devoted to Stone's cabinet-making business.

"We scurried in yesterday and got everything out," he said.

What follows after the water goes down is a familiar drill, he added.

"We'll muck it out and get the garden sprayer and bleach to get the mold out and go back to work," he said.

Serious flooding

It was a different story Wednesday, however.

In King County, historic flood conditions were reported on the Tolt River, and the Snoqualmie River reached flood stage IV.

In Sumner, the Puyallup River wasn't expected to crest until about 10 p.m. today. In Thurston County, the Nisqually River was not expected to crest until Friday.

No injuries or serious property damage were reported from the wet weather.

Christine Lange, spokeswoman in King County's emergency-management center, said the emergency declaration "allows us to buy resources faster for residents that need immediate help."

Red Cross emergency shelters were opened in Preston in King County, and in Graham and Buckley in Pierce County. Shelters also were set up in Snohomish and Whatcom counties.

Road closures

Flooding and landslides caused scores of road closures in the region.

The Green River Bridge between Enumclaw and Black Diamond was closed Wednesday after geotechnical experts detected small movements in the soil holding up the bridge. An instrument sent a reading that showed soil movement 40 feet below the bridge, said state transportation department engineer Messay Shiferaw. The bridge could remain closed until Friday.

Several roads in east King County remained closed today.

Seeking higher ground

Residents in flood-threatened areas made hurried preparations Wednesday to escape, loading goods in trucks and cars and piling them in high places.

"The point is to get it all up above high water," said Norma VanFleet, looking around her living room at the Colonial Square Apartments on Southeast Park Street east of downtown Snoqualmie.

Sandbags were piled across the front doorway, and couches, mattresses, computers and other furnishings were piled on countertops and bookcases to keep them from being damaged.

"With a little luck, it won't come in," VanFleet said.

About 30 people worked through the afternoon, filling sandbags in a parking lot next to a pizza parlor and bowling alley in town.

Rescues

In downtown Sultan, floodwaters from the Skykomish covered four blocks of Main Street near Highway 2. Sultan High School students were released from classes at about 9 a.m. to help fill sandbags and stack them in front of businesses along Main Street.

A family of four at the east end of town had to be evacuated when water surrounded their mobile home.

Ken Hopkins, deputy chief of Snohomish County Fire District No. 5 in Sultan, said crews brought in a boat from the Gold Bar Fire Department and floated the family and their two dogs to safety.

Another couple, including a man in a wheelchair, had to be rescued when their car was surrounded by water on Ben Howard Road, said Merlin Halverson, District 5 fire chief.

Halverson said the Skykomish River peaked at 19 feet at about 1 p.m., 2 feet less than had been predicted.

"Looks like we got lucky," Halverson said.

Meanwhile, barns at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe have been opened for residents needing shelter for their livestock and large animals. Some 63 horses, 10 cows, four zebras, two mules, 50 chickens and a goat had settled in at the fairground Wednesday, according to Snohomish County officials.

Widespread problems

In Pierce County, emergency-management crews alerted about 200 residents near the Carbon River to evacuate due to flooding, said Sheri Badger, spokeswoman for the department.

Mount Rainier National Park has closed because of flooding. Heavy rains sent Kautz Creek over its banks and across the Nisqually Road in the park's southwest corner to more than 6 inches.

A small dam has failed at Cosmopolis, Grays Harbor County, flooding several streets and nearby homes with several inches of water. The dam at Mill Creek Park gave way after it was weakened by a falling tree.

There were no injuries, but 12 to 20 homes below the dam ended up with 1 to 2 feet of water, said Mayor Vickie Raines. She said half of the 20-foot-wide, 4-foot-deep partial-concrete dam gave way.

Seattle Times staff reporters Sonia Krishnan, Erik Lacitis and Christine Clarridge and The Associated Press contributed to in this report.

Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com; Lynn Thompson: 206-464-8305 or lthompson@seattletimes.com; Charles E. Brown: 206-464-2206 or cbrown@seattletimes.com.