Story of the Day

Yes. It has been raining here. We have had a couple of months worth already it seems just this month. The rivers are all high, higher than most residents have ever seen. The rains cause problems beside the flooding though. The most dangerous is probably the mud slides. I have seen film of roads with sections missing where the ground slid out from under the road. I have also seen views of roads covered in mud. There was also a tape of a Burlington Northern locomotive on it's side in the water because it hit a mud slide and derailed. That is not so nice or so slow.

The rate of saturation of the ground is hard to predict and it is very difficult to calculate when the soils and slopes will loose their cohesiveness. None of the major roads from the Portland area are easily passable. I-5 and I-84 are completely closed in several locations. The other road through the Columbia Gorge, WA rte. 14 is also closed due to landslides. If we want to leave the city the only sure way is by plane.

The airport is in the Columbia River floodplain but is behind a levee. The levee is expected to hold so we will retain the use of the airport

Not much for today. Sorry.

February 8, 1996

Return to my Home Page

Comments welcome

Jack Jackson ( jjack@bearinmind.org )