Melting snow causes heavy flooding in Wash. state
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. – Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures as the heavy snowfall that has buried parts of the state began to rapidly melt.
More than 30,000 people were told to leave their homes in flood-endangered areas across western Washington as authorities warned of heavy flooding.
"This is going to be a memorable flood event," said Andy Haner, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle.
Fire trucks rolled through Orting, about 10 miles southeast of Tacoma, with loudspeakers advising everyone to leave the town and surrounding valley, home to about 26,000 people. Sandbags were placed around many downtown homes and businesses as the Puyallup River neared record levels. It was forecast to crest Thursday.
"They expect the town of Orting to go under water," Pierce County sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer said, adding that the flooding could be the worst in more than a decade.
Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma declared a civil emergency because of flood risks at Puyallup River.
Throughout the state, about 60 highways were closed, including all east-west passes across the Cascade Mountains. A 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 near Chehalis in southwestern Washington was also closed Wednesday evening.
Warmer temperatures and heavy rains were melting snow dumped on the mountains during a weekend storm, with 10 inches of snow melting in a 12-hour period at Snoqualmie Pass, about 50 miles east of Seattle, Haner said.
In Snoqualmie, a town 25 miles east of Seattle, kayakers paddled in the street as city officials urged residents in the flood plain of the Snoqualmie River to leave before they became trapped.
Volunteers gathered at a city park to stuff sandbags for residents to protect their homes.
June Garvin said she lived high on a ridge outside the danger area but wanted to help.
"The river came up so fast that for some people, sorry to say, sandbags aren't going to do a darn thing," Garvin said. "The water's going to get in if it wants to."
Chris Caviezel, who has lived at Snoqualmie Pass for about seven years, said conditions were the worst he has seen.
"We're getting avalanches and we're being flooded," Caviezel said.
As of early Wednesday evening, Marblemount saw nearly 6 inches of rain and almost 7 inches of rain fell at Snoqualmie Pass in the past 24 hours.
The weather service predicted another 4 to 8 inches of rain would fall on the coast and Cascades through Wednesday night and 1 to 3 inches elsewhere in the region.
Several dozen people and a number of pets were rescued by boat Wednesday morning after being trapped by high water outside Orting, Pierce County sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer said.
The weather service warned that rain-saturated snow would place even more weight on Spokane rooftops, increasing the threat of collapse. The city's schools will be closed Thursday, giving its 29,000 students a third unscheduled day off this week.
The state Fish and Wildlife Department said six wild elk that took refuge in a storage barn in Metaline Falls were killed Tuesday when the snow-laden roof collapsed. Officers said it was rare for elk to be so desperate that they would enter a barn.
Over the past two weeks, extreme temperatures in Alaska — 60 below zero in Stevens Village, which is about 90 miles northwest of Fairbanks — have grounded planes, disabled cars, frozen water pipes and even canceled several championship cross country ski races.
In Oregon, high winds toppled trees along U.S. 26, forcing the highway's closure and stranding some motorists while crews worked to clear the road. The weather service posted flood warnings for areas along several rivers and a flood watch for all of northwest Oregon.
Snow, sleet and freezing rain made roads hazardous across the Great Lakes region into New England on Wednesday, forcing the closure of hundreds of schools.
The weather service issued winter storm warnings and ice storm warnings from Pennsylvania into Maine, and winter weather advisories for parts of Michigan and Ohio.
High wind knocks out power to 413,000 in Mich.
DETROIT – Wind gusting more than 60 mph knocked out power to about 413,000 Michigan homes and businesses on Sunday as temperatures dipped back into the 20s and 30s.
Meanwhile, flood warnings were posted throughout the Midwest as temperatures rose after a week of heavy snowfall. Forecasters said flooding was possible in areas of Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan and Indiana.
In Michigan, high wind knocked down tree limbs and power lines. Parts of the state also got about 4 inches of snow.
"We've had an intensifying storm system track northeast through the state," said Mark Sekelsky, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. "As that storm intensified, it brought the winds."
Detroit-based DTE Energy Co. said about 230,000 lost power Sunday, mostly in Wayne and Oakland counties. Crews were working, but spokesman Scott Simons said 10 percent of the 155,000 customers blacked out Sunday night would have to remain without power into Thursday.
"We're still assessing," Singer said.
CMS Energy Corp. subsidiary Consumers Energy said about 183,000 of its customers lost power because of the winds and 91,000 remained blacked out Sunday night. Consumers said it couldn't predict when power might be restored because the winds continued.
Crews from Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio aided Michigan's power restoration efforts.
Strong winds also gusted across upstate New York, reaching 75 mph in the Buffalo area and toppling some power poles and trees. Nearly 16,000 customers were without power in five western and northern counties. In New York City, residents relaxed as temperatures reached the mid-60s Sunday.
Melting snow and ice caused problems in the Midwest. In southeastern Wisconsin, the National Weather Service predicted the Fox River would crest about a foot over flood stage Tuesday in the town of Wheatland.
Flooding along U.S. 31 in Holland, Mich., forced Amtrak to cancel a train from Chicago to Grand Rapids on Saturday night, and at least 300 passengers were taken to buses to complete their trips, WZZM-TV reported.
Amtrak canceled one train Sunday night and one Monday morning between Chicago and Grand Rapids because of the weather, Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell said.
Christmas Eve storms predicted for Midwest, West
CHICAGO – Many stranded, irate travelers tried to take advantage of a lull between snowstorms to get home by jet, car or train before another wallop of winter's wrath smacks the West and Midwest on Christmas Eve.
Weather service forecasters said more snow was likely Wednesday in the Midwest and Great Lakes, with up to 4 inches possible in Chicago. The Northwest was to battle its own snow and sleet storms, with 8 inches of snowfall expected in Spokane.
"We're seeing quite a bit of messiness out there," said National Weather Service meteorologist Ed Shimon, who's been at work at the agency's Lincoln, Ill., office for six straight days, a period when the state has seen snow, ice and subzero temperatures that were accompanied by wind chills of 20 below and more. "It's something different every day — never a dull moment."
At Chicago's airports, steady snow and wind caused problems Tuesday. More than 500 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport.
Travelers relying on train service also ran into weather-related delays caused by Amtrak's snow-packed track switches and other cold-related problems across the country.
Around 600 passengers in Chicago waited for up to 22 hours before finally boarding their delayed trains — the Lake Shore Limited, which was bound for New York, and the Seattle- and Portland, Ore.-bound Empire Builder.
"It's spoiled our Christmas, sure," 73-year-old Don Seifert said after he and his wife abandoned hope of spending the holidays in New York with their son and his family.
But crowds of stranded travelers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were drastically reduced, some Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses in the Pacific Northwest were running and motorists in the region found easier going Tuesday.
Greyhound officials opened service on Interstate 5 from Portland to Seattle and from Seattle to Spokane but not east of there. Portland to Boise service remained suspended.
Amtrak said it is moving passengers from Eugene to Portland by bus, from Portland to Seattle by train, and from Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia, by bus.
The reprieve was to be short-lived. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for much of Washington state, with as much as 3 inches of snow forecast in Seattle by early Wednesday, to be followed by slightly warmer temperatures and rain across western Washington later on Christmas Eve.
Many surface streets remained snowpacked, icy, and rutted with treacherous gray slush across the Pacific Northwest from weekend storms that brought 8 to 12 inches of snow to Seattle and nearby cities.
Many roads across northern and central Indiana remained icy or snow-covered Wednesday morning as temperatures slowly rose above freezing. Indiana State Police reopened a 30-mile stretch of Interstate 69 northeast of Indianapolis after closing it for about four hours due to icy conditions.
At least 12 people died in car crashes on rain and ice-slickened roads Tuesday — two in Missouri, two in Kansas, one in Oklahoma, four in Kentucky, one in Ohio and two in Indiana.
In Oregon, the Portland metro region, the Columbia Gorge and the northern Willamette Valley dug out and awaited more stormy weather on Christmas Eve.
The National Weather Service warned residents of northern Indiana about a significant flooding threat this weekend because of expected heavy rains later in the week and a rapid snow melt.
