Flooding could mean closure of Interstate 5 in Lewis County by this afternoon

Rapidly rising rivers could force state officials to close parts of Interstate 5 in Lewis County as early as this afternoon, and eventually extend the closure to more than 20 miles of highway at least through Friday.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is putting an emergency closure plan together and working on re-routing traffic around the closure. Jim Park, a hydrologist for the department, said he expects a levee near the Lewis County airport will overflow and eventually have to be breached to drain water away from the interstate.

Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield expects extensive flooding in Centralia, where the Skookumchuck River could crest at record levels by Thursday. He said a lot of store owners are sandbagging but in many cases, sandbagging won't be effective.

"It's almost a feel-good type of thing in something like this," he said.

The twin cities of Centralia and Chehalis are particularly vulnerable to flooding because three rivers converge in the area, two of which are expected to be at record flood levels. The third, the Chehalis River, is expected to crest at about the level it reached in 2007, causing widespread flooding and property damage.

Unlike 2007, when dangerous, fast-moving water forced helicopter evacuations of homes along the Chehalis River, this time around Mansfield thinks that most of the water will be slower moving and will therefore put fewer lives at risk.

But if a levee were to break — always a possibility in a flood — that could trigger a sudden release of fast-moving water, Mansfield said.

Significant flooding in the area is expected by late today and rivers are not expected to crest until Thursday.

In low-lying areas of Centralia, business owners on Tuesday were busy moving furniture, supplies and merchandise to higher ground.

"It's like déjà vu going through this again," said Cindy Klebe, an interior decorator with Northwest Carpet One Floor & Home in Centralia. "It would be very sad to see all this work go to waste."

Klebe and other employees at the store had spent four months scrubbing away mud and cleaning up after the December 2007 flood. The showroom now has new paint and floors covered in slate, wood and tile. They had little warning before the December 2007 flood, which put 22 inches of water inside the store and destroyed tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.

This time around, they said they had more warning and were preparing for floodwaters by wrapping the outside of the building in plastic, sandbagging and raising merchandise off the floor.

At a nearby shopping center, Figaro's Pizza had reopened for business just 51 days ago, said owner Dee Batchelder.

As of noon, the restaurant was still serving pizza but Batchelder was rushing to move supplies and furniture to higher ground. "We're going to keep serving pizza as long as we can," she said.

Mudslide fears also prompted evacuations of residents on Miners Road in Morton, according to the Lewis County Sheriff's office. Much of Packwood is without power. A shelter has been set up at the Salkum Fire Hall.

The Lewis County Sheriff's office is asking residents to monitor water levels near their property and leave if water begins rising to a dangerous level, as well as to take precautions to keep their animals safe.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com.