05:59 PM PST on Friday, January 6, 2006

By KRISTINA BRENNEMAN and JIM PARKER, kgw.com Staff

KGW photo

Contractors work on a home on Newell Ridge Road in Oregon City that has begun shifting from a mudslide.

ASTORIA, Ore. -- A dike breach threatening homes near Astoria and a mudslide that may wash away an Oregon City home are just two of numerous catastrophes occuring as rain continues to saturate land, rivers and streams across the state. The extremely soggy conditions also prompted Oregon's governor to urge folks to get flood insurance.

Late Friday afternoon, Clatsop County Commissioners declared a state of emergency and sought help from the state and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers as a breaching dike at Warren Slough threatened several homes in rural Brownsmead, just west of Astoria.

"The threat is imminent," County Administrator Scott Derickson said.

He explained that heavy rain, high tides and storm surges washed out a 200-foot section of the earthen levee. A railroad track that runs atop the dike is suspended in air over the eroded dike; the break has allowed the Columbia River to flood onto Ziak-Gnat Creek and Carl Johnson roads and erode the Ziak Bridge, which is now closed.

"Seven-foot tides have been causing more flood damage. The situation could soon worsen as continuing rain and higher tides are forecast through next week," said Derickson.

Knappa Fire Chief Paul Olheiser said many of the residents in the threatened area are elderly and some have significant health problems.

Crews hoped to begin making repairs on Saturday, although the process could take up to 5 days. Workers planned to fill and strengthen a section of dike that eroded from under the railroad tracks to stop the flow of water, said the county's Public Works Director Ed Wegner.

It was unclear how much the repairs would cost or who would pay the bill, which was part of the reason for the county's emergency aid request from the state and federal governments.

Oregon City home sliding away in mud

Elsewhere Friday, Jennifer Winemiller and Kevin Brown were watching their Oregon City home slip away in a horrific mudslide just six months after buying it.

The newly engaged couple had hoped to get married this July in the backyard of the hillside home on Newell Ridge Road. Instead, the shifting soil has consumed their deck, backyard and house foundation.

"We would never have imagined that this would be how 2006 would begin for us, but we are so grateful to the Red Cross and our neighbors for their support," Winemiller said.

When the house first started shifting, 20 of their neighbors rushed to help move the couple's belongings.

Two Red Cross volunteers Jan and Larry Stennick, of Oregon City, provided financial assistance to the couple and their three children for a week of food and lodging. Though the couple carried homeowners' insurance on their home, they found out it does not cover such events as a mudslide.

Area rivers on the rise

More problems are expected to occur around the region as local rivers once again reach over their banks.

Washington County closed Wren Road at noon Friday, when it became blocked by a fallen tree. Washington County spokeswoman Victoria Savage expected it would be reopened by late Friday afternoon.

Warning signs are also in place at West Union Road east of 185th Avenue because water has blocked the roadway.

KGW photo

The Willamette River edges closer to the docks of houseboat owners.

“We’re keeping an eye on them through the weekend,” said KGW meteorologist Dave Salesky of the rivers flow. “Some will get to the bank” such as the Tualatin and Pudding rivers. “It could get up to flood stage.”

Lisa Aanderrud, a Portland houseboat owner, has also been monitoring the water levels and debris floating by her home on the Willamette River. She said the logs, flip-flops and other materials have "definitely thinned out."

The Willamette River is up to 90 percent full, but has not approached flood stage as it did in 1996 and 1997.

Even with all the rain lately, the water levels in most places are well below the 1996 record numbers. Still, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is urging people to obtain flood insurance just in case.

The National Weather Service posted a flood alert for the Applegate and Illinois rivers in southern Oregon's Jackson County, noting that both rivers were about half-way to flood stage. The Applegate is at 7 feet; the Illinois has reached 9 feet of water.

Salesky said about an inch of rain fell Friday in the Portland-Vancouver area, and showers were likely to continue through next Thursday.

Coming storms are backed up, waiting to pounce, he said. “It’s like trying to find a parking space at the mall during Christmas.”

In the mountains, snow levels will fall off, he said. Up to 18 inches of new snow was possible by the end of the weekend.

That should be good news for Oregon’s two busiest ski areas. Mt. Hood Meadows, with 8 feet of snow at its base, has gotten 207 inches of snow this season; Mt. Bachelor has a 93-inch base.

Meanwhile, high wind was experienced Friday in the Grande Ronde Valley.

The weather service reported wind gusts between 30 mph and 40 mph at the Grande Ronde Airport, with gusts of 45 to 55 miles per hour between Union and La Grande along Highway 203 -- making driving difficult.

There were also scattered reports of freezing fog and black ice in the Columbia basin and north central Oregon, the weather service said.

(KGW reporters Scott Burton and Andrea Cantu contributed to this report.)