High waters remain in some parts of county after weekend’s heavy rain

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After record-breaking rainfall over the weekend, rivers in the county reached flood levels, prompting multiple road closures which are still in effect as of Tuesday.

“If you went to bed Saturday night looking at all the river gauges and thinking we were OK in Thurston County, you were correct. If you woke up Sunday morning wondering what happened, you were probably correct as well, because that’s what we did,” said Kurt Hardin, director for the county’s emergency services, during a meeting with county commissioners.

The Chehalis River is at minor flooding levels near Grand Mound, according to the National Weather Service, and it’s expected to stay that way until Wednesday. NWS data for that part of the river show that it had reached moderate flood levels on Jan. 3, but since then has steadily receded.

NWS data defines “minor flooding” for that area as: “the Chehalis River in Thurston County will flood several roads in Independence Valley including James Road, Independence Road, and Moon Road. Flood waters will also cover nearby farm lands.”

The Skookumchuck River near Bucoda also hit moderate flood levels over the weekend, but has since receded.

As of Tuesday, Thurston County Public Works still noted a few road closures in the county. They are: Case Road Southwest between Maytown Road Southwest and 113th Avenue Southwest, 110th Avenue Southwest between Littlerock Road Southwest and Delphi Road Southwest, and Independence Road Southwest between Marble Street Southwest and the county line.

The county public work department urges anyone who encounters water over the roadway to turn around, rather than risk driving through the water and losing control of your vehicle. As little as 6 inches of water can take away your control of a vehicle.

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