Portland Area, Johnson Creek Under Flood Watch

The National Weather Service issued a "flood watch" for the Portland-Vancouver area and the Oregon Coast starting Monday at 7 p.m. and lasting until Tuesday afternoon, Oregon Live is reporting.

In the Portland area, forecasters and city officials are carefully watching the Johnson Creek area.
The "watch" means the public should monitor the latest forecasts and be ready to react with precautions, such as using sandbags to protect property.

The Bureau of Transportation is offering free sand and sandbags to the public. People who want to take advantage should bring shovels to one of these locations:

• Southeast 88th Avenue, just south of Holgate Boulevard in the parking lot at Lents Park.
• Southeast 111th Avenue and Harold Street at the southeast corner of the intersection; and
• Southwest 42nd Avenue and Vermont Street in the lower parking lot of Gabriel Park.

State officials are advising the public to stay away from steep slopes that are at high risk for landslides. That includes structures and roads in canyons or near the mouths of canyons; roads that have been cut into steep hillsides; and areas where slides have occurred in the past.

Heavy rains are expected to hit Monday night and continue into Tuesday, with 2 to 3 inches expected in the Coast Range and about an inch in the Portland area. That, along with snow that has been rapidly melting, has prompted flood worries.
The National Weather Service expects the greatest risks to be along Johnson Creek and the rivers draining east and west off the Coast Range. Also of concern: Interstate 5 in Southwest Washington, the greater southwestern Washington area, and the central and southern areas of the Willamette Valley.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation expects Johnson Creek to crest at 11.8 feet late Tuesday morning, with waters receding by afternoon. The bureau says 11 feet is considered flood stage.

Monday, city park rangers and social-service agency workers told homeless campers of the threat and tried to find available shelter beds. City officials also have been warning property owners along the creek that it might flood.

Photo by the U.S. Army via Flickr Commons