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February 10, 1996, Saturday, Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section 1; Page 7; Column 1; National Desk

LENGTH: 926 words

HEADLINE: Record Floods Might Worsen Along Rivers In Northwest

BYLINE: By The New York Times

DATELINE: PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 9

BODY:
The sun shone in an azure sky, but evacuations continued today as the worst flooding in decades raged in the Pacific Northwest. Surging rivers have resulted in five deaths in Oregon and one in Washington so far, officials said, and more than 20,000 residents have been evacuated in those states and in Idaho and Montana.

"When this all ends, I think it will be the worst flood in 50 years," said Gov. Mike Lowry of Washington, speaking by telephone from the state capital of Olympia. Governor Lowry has declared 16 counties disaster areas and estimates that damage will exceed $100 million. President Clinton today declared the Oregon and Washington counties hit by the flooding to be disaster areas, which will make Federal assistance available to flood victims.

Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon was admitted to a Salem hospital with chest pains on Thursday after a helicopter tour of the state. But aides said today that he had muscular problems, not a heart attack.

The aerial view over rural parts of western Oregon and Washington resembles the watery terrain of the Midwest during the flooding of 1993, with Douglas firs and evergreens protruding from the water instead of corn silos. Lake Oswego, Tualatin and Oregon City, near Portland, have been hit particularly hard.

Downtown Portland, at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, narrowly escaped being flooded, as the waters of the Willamette rose to a point about level with the top of the sea wall this evening.

The flooding attracted cyclists, joggers and other spectators to the river, where a raft with a dozen chairs on top floated under the Morrison Bridge in the city, along with several wayward barges.

The Willamette River is expected to be held at bay by a hastily constructed milelong sea-wall fortification. "I'm cautiously optimistic," Mayor Vera Katz said.

But Portland's problems are far from over. Catastrophic flooding could result from Portland and Vancouver, Wash., to the mouth of the Columbia River if the sodden dikes along the river fail to hold.

Low-lying areas on both sides of the Columbia River were evacuated as waters were more than 10 feet above flood stage and continuing to rise. Portland's drinking water supply is also in danger.

A dozen smaller Oregon cities and towns have already been ordered to boil water; some have lost their water supplies completely.

In Keizer, a Salem suburb where water was contaminated by sewage, all but about 2,000 of 15,000 residents who were evacuated from their homes on Thursday were allowed to return this afternoon. In Tillamook, Oregon's famous dairy center, water has been contaminated by hundreds of decaying livestock. At least 1,000 dairy cows were reported to have drowned in Tillamook County. Two farmers lost entire herds.

Dozens of homes were flooded in Lake Oswego, some up to their rooftops, when floodwaters from the Tualatin River rushed into an artificial lake in the center of town, causing it to spill over.

In the nearby town of Tualatin, up to two feet of water covered several blocks of the downtown area. Just north of Oregon City, the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center was under two to three feet of water.

At the Oaks Amusement Park, a popular summer attraction for residents of Portland, the bottom of the ferris wheel was submerged and the midway was hip-deep in water.

Flooding in southeastern Washington could destroy 20 percent of the winter wheat acreage, officials said. Governor Lowery of Washington said the state had exhausted its supply of 300,000 sandbags. Almost half a million more sandbags were being sent to the state by the Army Corps of Engineers.

In Woodland, Wash., a town eight miles north of Vancouver straddling Clark and Cowlitz Counties, the Lewis River, a Columbia tributary, has turned a residential area into a lake. Flood water has forced the evacuation of more than 3,000 people, almost half the town's population, said Lianne Forney, the Clark County communications director.

"It's nothing I want to live through ever again," said Peggy Hanes, 42, a school librarian, who was evacuated on Thursday from her house on a rural county road outside Woodland. She said she saw a county emergency crew rescue her neighbor's livestock, five horses and one colt.

"As they were trying to get this 600-pound colt to follow the boat," she said, "it panicked because of the engine noise and the cold water, and climbed into the boat. That baby horse sunk the boat. Then they had to rescue the rescue boat."

Amanda Baker, 18, said her home in a mobile home park on the Lewis River in Woodland was flooded with five feet of water today. "We'd heard that some mobile homes were floating down rivers," she said, "and I was scared that our house was going to wash away." Ms. Baker, who had sandbagged in vain all night, waded through the rising water, carrying yearbooks, photographs and clothes.

Mud and trees also caused problems along the highways in both states, as several hillsides collapsed. A mountain slope on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge gave way on Wednesday night, burying Interstate 84 and train tracks axle-deep in mud. Nine freight trains were stranded in the 70-mile stretch east of Portland, and officials expected the city's chief east-west transportation corridor to remain blocked through the weekend.

"Our long-term concern is the transportation system in the state of Oregon," said Lieut. Bernie Guisto, a spokesman for the Oregon State Police. "More mud slides could occur because of unstable roadbed."

GRAPHIC: Photo: Royce Hersh of Dodson, Ore., returned home yesterday with Ken Cahill, his son-in-law, after widespread mudslides and flooding in the Northwest. (Associated Press)

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

LOAD-DATE: February 10, 1996