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With your total news coverage for Yakima and Kittitas Valleys, this is CAP 35 news at 5.30.
Good evening and welcome to CAP 35 news. I'm Dana Cowley.
The flood damage assessments are pouring in, and that is tonight's top story.
Many of the estimates are preliminary, but county officials say there are at least $25 million worth of private property damage
and a good $4 million in public damage. CAP 35 Cindy Andrew has more.
The damage from rushing waters is being revealed as things start to dry out.
Senator Patty Murray looked at the damage today by a plain.
Later, county officials put a price tag to the damage.
Over 130 miles of road in Yakima County have been damaged by floodwaters.
16 bridges are damaged, and one is completely destroyed.
The county estimates $3 to $4 million in road and bridge damage, another $200,000 of damage to county parks,
and $500,000 damage to dikes.
The county has prioritized the repairs, starting with roads.
We're restoring access to places that people can't get into.
That's the first priority. The second priority is the major roads.
Concerns over another broken dike in Toppenish have calmed.
However, emergency management director Don Thompson told Senator Murray today it's not stable.
It's definitely got to have something to do.
County Commissioner Jim Lewis says even the most elaborate diking system wouldn't prevent flooding,
but he says all the dikes need to be looked at.
I think our next step, obviously now, is to talk with the Indian nation, the Army Corps of Engineers,
and the state about possibly re-channeling the river away from private and public property as much as possible.
Senator Murray is scheduled to fly over the flood-damaged Pacific Northwest with President Clinton tomorrow.
We have worked really well with FEMA in the past, and from the November floods, getting some quick help back,
and I want to be able to make sure he knows exactly what we need.
Right now, the county is paying to fix all the flood damage, but they hope to be reimbursed by the federal government.
Cindy Andrew, CAP-35 News.
If your property has received flood damage, you can call the Federal Emergency Management Agency now,
and that number is 1-800-462-9029.
Authorities have identified the missing person who was lost in the Marion drain.
52-year-old Linda Stewart was in a car which fell off the Marion drain into the water on Sunday.
The two other people in that car escaped uninjured, but there has been no sign of Stewart since.
The road had been washed out for days, and it was marked with a road close sign.
If they bypass a barricade or if they return to an area where they are not allowed to be,
if we end up having to go in and rescue them, that is at their expense, and we will send them a bill for it.
And that bill can run as high as $68 an hour.
Authorities believe Stewart is from the Mabton area.
Divers had planned to search for her, but that was called off because the water was running too rapidly and it was too risky.
People should be able to travel in and out of the Nile community soon.
Crews are working on making a temporary road so people can get in and out of that valley.
Nile residents will be able to leave the area if they leave before 6 a.m. and if they return by 6 p.m.
Crews are going to be working on Damaged Highway 410 and 12 for about 12 hours a day until it is completed.
About 1,000 people have been stuck in their homes since last Thursday.
Flood and other supplies have been flown into the community.
Prosser residents need to start conserving water.
Two of the sewer lines broke this weekend, leaving that town with just one remaining sewer line.
CAP-35's Renee McCullough reports the city is going to need the public's help to get through this crisis.
The city of Prosser operates on three sewer lines, two domestic and one industrial.
This weekend, two of the lines were washed away.
Public Works Director Charlie George says that means people need to cut back on their water use.
Our ability to handle the total volume through one line is based upon citizens not wasting water, not using water unnecessarily.
George says they will send out mailers this week.
He says they are asking residents to do little things, take shorter showers,
don't leave the water running while you brush your teeth, do fewer loads of laundry.
If you can get a full load, that's more economical than if you run two loads to do the same volume of clothes.
Same with the dishwasher.
Rinse things off a little bit and put them in and fill it so you run a full load.
George says residents will need to make changes for the next one or two months until they can get the sewer lines fixed.
And when they do rebuild the line, George says they will do it different.
This time it will be built above water so it doesn't get washed away.
And this break has caused three local plants to close their doors for the last couple of days.
Two of the plants are up and running as of today.
The others should be up and running by tomorrow.
In processor Renee McCullough reporting for CAP 35 News.
Fixing that industrial line will cost about $260,000.
But the domestic line won't cost that much because some of the costs can be shared.
The flood damage estimate isn't the only reason that our U.S. Senator Patty Murray is in the Valley.
We're going to tell you more about her visit next, why she's here in person.
Plus we'll tell you how to...
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Or if they return to an area where they are not allowed to be, if we end up having to go in and rescue them, that is at their expense.
And we will send them a bill for it.
Those barricades are set up there for a reason.
The Sheriff's Office began writing tickets this weekend to people...
...who continue to ignore road closure signs or interfere with flood control efforts.
Blair says sightseers have been a major problem in some locations.
In other news, tonight a murder warrant has been issued for a lower valley man in a...