Chehalis River at Grand Mound Continues to Rise as Others Recede

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River levels around the region are dropping across the board, with the exception of the Chehalis River at Grand Mound, which is projected to continue rising until 6 p.m.

At Grand Mound, water levels are currently about to reach moderate flood stages, according to the National Weather Service and will peak later this evening at nearly 16.5 feet. The river will begin receding overnight. Major flooding begins at 17 feet.

Along the Skookumchuck River at Bucoda, water levels reached a high of nearly 16.23 feet overnight and have been receding, though the river still remains in a moderate flooding stage. As of 10 a.m. on Friday morning, the National Weather Service registered river depth at 15.9 feet, well below the 17-foot major flooding mark.

The Chehalis River at Centralia entered an action stage overnight and is projected to peak at 64.8 feet today, but is not anticipated to enter minor flooding stages, which occurs at 65 feet.

The Skookumchuck River in Centralia is expected to behave similarly, peaking just below the minor flood stage before receding this morning.

The Newaukum River in Chehalis experienced minor flooding yesterday and has been dramatically receding overnight, similar to the Chehalis River at Doty, which hit a high-water mark of 14.32 feet on Thursday morning.

In Centralia, China Creek overflowed yesterday, leading the city to shut down the intersection of Iron Street and West Magnolia Street and set up a sandbag station on North Pearl Street.

As of Friday morning, the intersection was not flooded and China Creek was receding.

Gauges in east Lewis County all show water levels well below action levels.



Flooding also caused problems in Pe Ell earlier this week.

A broken water pipe in the Pe Ell water system was repaired and the water processing plant was brought back online late Thursday, Pe Ell Mayor Lonnie Willey said, after the pipe was initially damaged earlier this week when a tree fell on it. This led the town to begin drawing water from the Chehalis River.

Heavy rainfall and snowmelt over the past two days dredged up sediment and caused the river pumps to become clogged with mud, Willey said.

As of 9 a.m. on Friday morning, Willey said the town had around 8 feet of water in its reserves, which is enough for roughly two days.

Willey said while the reserves will be replenished over at least the next 24 hours, residents should continue to conserve water.

Crews worked yesterday to repair the damaged pipe but a lack of water coupled with rising floodwater forced the closure of the local school around noon on Thursday.

As of Friday morning, Willey said the situation had stabilized in the town.

“The water’s running, so we’re headed the right direction, it just takes a while to catch up,” he said.