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Most roads in, out of Olympia flooded

By Rolf Boone | The Olympian • Published January 08, 2009

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Most routes out of Olympia were sealed off Wednesday night, with heavy rain closing Interstate 5 to the south, state Route 8 to the west and the mountain passes to the east.

Sixty-two roads had been closed statewide as of Wednesday evening, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Melanie Coon said. Sixty-four roads were closed during flooding in December 2007.

I-5 closed Wednesday night from Grand Mound to just south of Napavine, and I-5 in Fife, near the Puyallup River, also was at risk of closing, according to the state Emergency Management Division.

For those wanting to drive to Portland on Wednesday night, U.S. Highway 101 was the only option, DOT spokeswoman Kelly Stowe said. Taking U.S. 101 down to state Route 4, then cutting over to Longview and reconnecting with I-5 south, is a little more than 200 miles — about 100 miles more than the regular trip from Olympia to Portland on I-5.

However, residents can't take state Route 8 to Grays Harbor County to connect with U.S. 101, the usual route. State Route 8 closed about 3 a.m. Wednesday, McCleary resident Jeannine Stewart said.

Coon said there was no estimate for when the passes will reopen and that I-5 in Lewis County will be evaluated today. A decision on reopening will depend on the pace of receding floodwaters, the section of freeway closed and the flood size, she said.

Trains, buses

Amtrak train service between Portland and Seattle, including stops in Lacey and Centralia, has been suspended today through Saturday, The Associated Press reported.

Greyhound buses were operational Wednesday, but it was unclear how service might be affected by I-5 closures, an employee at the Olympia Greyhound station said.

Company policy prevented her from disclosing her name, she said.

A bus from Seattle bound for Portland was expected to stop in Olympia at 9:15 p.m., and two buses from Portland headed to Seattle also were expected to stop in Olympia on Wednesday night, she said.

Olympia city employee Stewart said she usually rides Grays Harbor Transit about 26 miles to get to work, but after the road closed, she found herself stuck at home.

In December, the snow kept her home; now it's the rain, she said.

"We're always stocked up on food, so we can get through a week," Stewart said.

Jon Ranney, manager of the Pilot Travel Center truck stop at Exit 99, said he was expecting a busy night if truck drivers were delayed by I-5 closing. The problem is that the 90 parking spots at the center fill up quickly even on an ordinary night, he said.

Olympia Regional Airport was open Wednesday but was no busier because of people desperately trying to get out of town, airport director Rudy Rudolph said.

There is no commercial air service at the airport, although it is home to private planes and corporate jets, he said.

Airport tenant Glacier Aviation, however, was busy accommodating airplane owners in Lewis County hoping to avoid flood damage to their planes, said Tim Kraus, who works in marketing and business development for Glacier. About eight planes had flown to Olympia from the Chehalis Airport for storage, Kraus said.

Rolf Boone covers business for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5403 or rboone@theolympian.com.