So still some problems, the aftermath of the big flooding going on in Oregon and Washington.
And some of that flooding is spread into Idaho and Montana along with snow melting causing
some rivers to overflow their banks in western Montana at this time.
We have a few little green blobs showing up here, a few light sprinkles and showers, extreme
northern California, south central Oregon, but the accumulations will be well under a
tenth of an inch, so nothing to worry about there.
High pressure ridging all the way from the northwest into Texas with some cooler and
drier air.
But out ahead of that cooler, drier air we had some warm air.
Damage along receding rivers in Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Witt toured the flooded areas around
Oregon on Saturday and he's scheduled to visit Washington on Sunday.
Dozens of counties in both states have been declared federal disaster areas and the worst
may not yet be over southwest of Portland where a river there is still rising.
Officials say that downtown in that city is totally submerged and many residents have
been forced to seek higher ground.
We've gone into several departments now and talked to people that didn't want to come
out prior to today, but after a little bit of talking with them and how much water is
expected to go down, they decided it was best to get out.
There's still some, about half of them decided to stay and wait it out.
There's no danger to them at this point though.
I don't think so.
I think they may lose lights and phones and stuff like that, but you know, that's their
call.
Two rivers in Washington state are also still on the rise.
Workers in Tobinish are trying to strengthen the levee on the Yakima River with sandbags
and parts of Interstate 5 remain closed because of mudslides.
A threat to the bottom.
The National Guard helped many residents shore up their homes.
Awash in dirty water, many cities are running out of fresh water supplies.
Portland city officials are warning people to cut back drastically or face boiling water
by the end of the weekend.
In Tillamook, some farms still appear like islands.
In Oregon city, the river is so high, Oregon falls don't fall very far.
Some use the raging waters for play and even for those facing losses, there can be a bright
side.
We'll have to tell Brett and Ashley that their tricycles made it.
Well, we're just going to clean up and it's just an adventure.
Just having another adventure.
For some, there's no question of packing up.
We love the river.
We're not leaving.
This is the spot to be.
We don't care.
For others, their dreams have been washed away forever.
Rusty Dornan, CNN, Tualatin, Oregon.
The rain of course has stopped.
Good weather predicted for the next several days, but the end will not suddenly be over.
The high water remains and it's said that it will go down rather slowly, about a foot
a day, which means it could be until about the middle of next week or longer before the
water drops below flood level.
So it's going to really hinder the recovery process.
Don Knapp in Oregon, thanks so much for joining us.
Federal investigators are still trying to pinpoint the cause of Friday's deadlock.
...across the flood ravaged Northwest begin to recede but leave victims with a clear view
of what lies ahead.
Hi, I'm Christina Abernathy.
And I'm Brett Edwards.
Four days of rain, melting snow, produced flooding that has swamped over some of the
roads and really covered many areas with mud and debris.
Many people had to leave their homes.
And the Tulleton River crested today at Lake Oswego, Oregon, after flooding nearly 250
homes and in a very affluent community.
Just south of the Portland area, some of the lakeside homeowners say they had no flood
insurance.
The city's marina is also underwater.
Residents of one nearby apartment complex watched as the water's inundated the entire
lower level.
The Oregon City Falls along the Willamette River is quite a sight on a normal day.
Today it seemed even more awe-inspiring as flood-swollen waters raged over it.
You can't see it because of the water, but there is a walkway connecting the Spencer
Paper Company's main building to its monitoring station in the middle of the falls.
And it's been a very nasty scenario here the last couple of days.
And still, there are some folks that are still in the Red Cross Center, but 22,000 people
that were evacuated, a lot of those folks, have went back home in Oregon.
Unfortunately, four people dead in Oregon and two are still missing.
In the state of Washington, a thousand people are at the Red Cross shelters tonight, estimated,
and some counties still have health advisories for the drinking water, and there's been
one death reported.
Well, we do have good news in the west.
It is milder weather, drier weather coming in.
Let's show you what the high temperatures were today.
Seeing the damage along receding rivers in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Witt toured the flooded areas around
Oregon on Saturday.
He's scheduled to visit Washington Sunday.
Dozens of counties in both states have been declared federal disaster areas, and the worst
may not yet be over southwest of Portland, where the Tualatin River is still rising.
Officials say downtown Tualatin is totally submerged, and many residents have been forced
to seek higher ground.
We've gone in several departments now and talked to people that didn't want to come
out prior to today, but after a little bit of talking with them and how much water is
expected to go down, they decided it's best to get out.
There's still something, about half of them decided to stay and wait it out.
There's no danger to them at this point, though?
I don't think so.
I think they may lose lights and phones and stuff like that, but that's their call.
Two rivers in Washington state are also still on the rise.
Workers in Toppenish are trying to strengthen the levee on the Yakima River with sandbags,
and parts of Interstate 5 remain closed because of mudslides.
Three former Cuban political...
Northern Idaho may not find relief for several days.
Lake Coeur d'Alene isn't expected to start dropping until Tuesday.
The Spokane River, which flows from the lake, will likely stay above flood stage for several
days.
Emergency workers describe the town of St. Mary's as devastated.
Much of Cataldo is underwater, and floodwaters have cut in half the community of Orfeano.
In all, floodwaters have driven 2,500 people in Idaho from their homes.
Idaho's governor has asked that the state be declared a federal disaster area.
Throughout Oregon and Washington, sandbags are being picked up, and instead of evacuations,
the focus has shifted toward assessing the damage and making sure communities have drinkable
water.
The homes are ruined.
A lot of people hurting right now.
I guess it's over.
That's the best part of the whole thing.
For the most part, rivers and streams are dropping slowly, only a foot or two each day.
At Lake Oswego, a dam opened Saturday night is draining the lake so fast it's causing
new problems.
It's dropping at a quick rate.
This boat goes down, it'll take the bottom drive and shove it right up through the wooden
bottom and that's destroying the boat.
And while some members of the National Guard began scooping up sandbags, others airlifted
hay bales to stranded cattle along the Columbia River.
In Washington state, Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland has one lane open in
each direction.
But Interstate 82 near Yakima is closed in several places, and it may be several days
before all of the roads in the Northwest are open once more.
Chuck Coppola for CNN, Portland, Oregon.
A friend of Nicole Brown's...
Keepers cleared their yards yesterday, cleaned the breeze, shoveled mud on Sunday under the
sunny skies as you can see, and more sunshine and mild temperatures will certainly help
out the cleanup process today.
13 of Washington's 39 counties have been declared disaster areas.
Well there's good news for those of you who need to travel on parts of Interstate 5.
The Interstate was open to one lane of traffic in either direction on Sunday through Centralia
and Chehalis.
Even though these lanes were open, few cars tried to make their way through.
Traffic was relatively light on Sunday.
Standing water and mud still clog the outside lanes by the way, as well as many secondary
roads in this general area.
Good news as far as the weather is concerned, it certainly is cooperating, and as we look
at the satellite picture we can see why.
The reason why is a big high pressure ridge over the Pacific Northwest.
Now there's some increase in the snow melt coming down from the high elevations because
of the mild conditions in association with this high pressure system, but it will be
another day of dry conditions and sunshine, and with the blocking high pressure system
the storms offshore will not make it to the coast until sometime late this week or next
weekend.
So there's a couple of days of dry, stable weather conditions are in store for you folks
around Seattle and Portland in the Pacific Northwest.
Now in the southwest...
...under storms too, while in the east the snow shower activity continues.
For the most part though, just light snow.
Later on today we do have wind...
...and flooding and mudslides have damaged thousands of homes and closed hundreds of
roads including major interstates.
At least seven deaths are now blamed on the disaster.
Sunny skies are easing the threat of new flooding, but some rivers aren't expected to drop below
flood stage for several more days.