MAPLETON, Ore. (KMTR) – Heavy rains are bringing high water to the Oregon Coast, bringing excess water above the riverbanks and problems on the hillsides.
“This is what you live with when you choose to live here on the Siuslaw like we do,” said Mapleton resident David Marshall on Friday afternoon while looking down his water covered street in Mapleton.
An estimated 3 inches of rain has dropped in Oregon’s Coastal mountain range between the last 24 hours of Thursday, December 29th, 2011 and Friday December 30th, 2011. In the past three days, between 8 to 10 inches of rain has fallen in the area.
Mapleton is one of the areas that has been hit the hardest, with water splashing up into a few homes front and back yards.
Friday afternoon, river gauges showed a water level of nearly 20 feet, about 2 feet above flood stage.
No businesses or houses appeared to be damaged by flooding on Friday. Most of the houses impacts have been raised up over the last few years. Friday afternoon, the water appeared to be receding.
David Marshall lives long Riverside Avenue in Mapleton. For residents like him, the high water isn’t unheard of, but certainly worth watching.
“We kind of expect something like this. And this is just really small and easy, crosses right here, every time, crosses right here,” said Marshall.
“You can't take any of it for granted. For instance, we're ready to clear our basement out because we have it coming in from the back as well as the front,” said Marshall.
While the waters were receding Friday night, the soaked earth leaves some lingering worries with others due to landslides.
Friday morning, ODOT crews cleaned up several landslides along coastal mountain range highways, including Highway 126 and 36.
Crews spent most of the day clearing an area around milepost 22 of Highway 126 after mud slid across the roadway, blocking one lane. Crews were able to keep traffic open during the clean up, but with delays.
Crews dealt with another landslide near milepost 16 on Highway 126 and along Highway 36 near Mapleton.
Living near a landslide prone hillside, Ronald Thompson is watching the weather closely.
“It's an interesting, the people who live down here are pretty much used to it. If it gets real bad … people get together and help each other out,” said Thompson.
“Pretty routine,” said Thompson.
As for the roads, along Highway 126, drivers should watch out standing water east of Veneta, near Walton, also near Cushman, just east of Florence, which were some of the worst areas on Friday afternoon.
