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December 31, 2005
By DYLAN DARLING
H&N Staff Writer
Klamath County officials are telling people who live near the banks of the
Sprague and Williamson rivers to get ready to head for high ground.
The warning came Friday as rising water around
Southern Oregon and Northern California covered roadways, causing delays and
detours for motorists. Heavy rains and high winds lashed both sides of the
border and triggered a landslide that closed both lanes of Interstate 5 over
the Siskiyou Summit.
I-5 was closed between Hilt, Calif., and Ashland, first due to flash flooding,
and then due to a series of landslides, said Oregon Department of
Transportation spokesman Gary Leaming. The roadblock caused streams of
travelers to pass through Klamath County on highways 58, 97 and 140. U.S.
Highway 101 was closed by fallen trees and mud south of Crescent City, Calif.
Northbound lanes of I-5 reopened Friday evening, but southbound lanes were
expected to be closed until dawn today.
As of Friday night, the National Weather Service predicted rain through the
weekend and a chance of rain or snow through next week. At Kingsley Field, 1.3
inches of rain fell Friday, and residents throughout the Klamath area battled
flooded basements, property and roads.
“Apparently it is just going to rain, rain, rain for the next several days -
that's not good,” said Bill Thompson, Klamath County emergency manager.
“The warning signs are out there.”
The National Weather Service issued a flood warning Friday for the Sprague
River near Beatty, and flood warnings also were issued for the Klamath, Rogue,
Umpqua and other rivers around Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Rivers were expected to crest between Friday night and today as the downpour eased, but a new storm system is expected Sunday.
The Sprague River was expected to swell past flood stage tonight, and the
high water should then move its way down river and into the Williamson in the
next three days.
On Friday, emergency officials said that people who live near the Sprague and
Williamson rivers should make evacuation plans if they live where water could
threaten their homes. They also should stop by the fire station in downtown
Chiloquin to tell officials where they plan to go in case of a flood.
Officials planned to meet at 1 p.m. today to determine if an incident command
post needs to be set up.
Sprague River resident Alice Carson watched the water
closely Friday, as did the Klamath County sheriff's deputies who have been
patrolling the valley.
Although Carson's home and market are safe from flood waters, her campground
on the banks of the Sprague about halfway between Sprague River and Chiloquin
could be submerged.
“We have all the makings of a flood,” said Carson, who has lived on the
river for 30 years.
The Sprague and Williamson flooded most recently in the winter of 1996-97,
which county officials say was the worse flooding since both topped their
banks in 1964. Carson said high waters also damaged homes on the Sprague in
1982.
While county officials focused flood planning efforts
on the Sprague and Williamson, Friday's pounding rain caused problems around
the county in other spots.
One was in Marjorie Walker's front yard on North Poe Valley Road.
A deluge of water cascaded down the hillside behind
her home, filling the pasture in front of it and covering the roadway.
“Out the back of my house looks like Niagara Falls,” she said.
Sheriff Tim Evinger said deputies and road work crews had three pages listing
problems, including a power pole leaning dangerously low on Lakeshore Drive,
high water on Highway 140 and plugged drains and culverts.
“It has now expanded the problem into town,” Evinger said.
In Klamath Falls, flooding closed Main Street at the underpass near Spring
Street, Owen Street at Merit's Appliance, Adams Street, Division Street at
Shasta Way and Shasta Way at Sixth Street and Lark Street.
Officials were in “triage” mode, handling the situations with the most
danger first, Evinger said.
- Jeff Barnard of the Associated Press contributed to this report
