Submitted by Lewis County Division of Emergency Management
The National Weather Service has issued a forecast for “EXCESSIVE RAIN” Wednesday night through Friday this week. Expect inundation of farmland and low-lying roads. Moderate flooding is possible on the Chehalis and Newaukum Rivers on Friday in Lewis County. The National Weather Service forecast indicates that the mountain snow levels (Olympic and Cascades) will rise between 4000 to 5000 feet on Friday but there is enough snowpack that the rain should have little effect on snowmelt.
The Skookumchuck River is expected to reach flood stage early Friday morning and continue through Saturday morning. There is also a slight chance of record flooding in the Grand Mound/Porter areas from the Chehalis River on late Friday into Saturday. We are actively monitoring all rivers, creeks and streams impacting the Lewis County area. At this time the Cowlitz and Nisqually Rivers are not projected to reach flood stage.
“With the forecasted intense rainfall coming, the Lewis County Emergency Management Self-service Sandbag Station opened on Wednesday at 2 p.m.,” states Emergency Management Deputy Director Ross McDowell. “The Sandbag Station will continue to be open throughout the weekend as long as there is a need.”
The Self-service Sandbag Station is located on the near the corner of Main Street and Cascade Avenue (19 SW Cascade Ave). Shovels and materials as well as instructions on how to fill sandbags and properly stack them are available at the location. The City of Chehalis has opened their sandbag station at the Corner of 13th & Market Blvd, behind Security State Bank in the gravel parking area (25 SW Circle Ave).
If severe weather conditions persist and other rivers exceed their banks, additional sandbag locations throughout the county may be opened as needed.
