Two people still missing on Green River.

Larger screen

SEATTLE - A search continued Sunday in King County for two men reported missing on the Green River south of Seattle. The Green and Cedar rivers remained closed by order of the sheriff's office and the county Department of Emergency Management because of high, swift flowing and frigid water as a warm spell boosted runoff from mountain snowpacks.

A 45-year-old Seattle man was with three others when he went underwater in his kayak and failed to reappear on the surface downstream from Kanasket Palmer State Park in the Green River gorge east of Auburn. A paddle was found on Sunday, but still no sign of the man.

Closer to Auburn, four men were thrown into the water near Flaming Geyser State Park when a pair of small inflatable rafts tied together flipped. Three were rescued, but there was no sign of a 34-year-old Robert Harper of Federal Way.

"It's running so hard we can't put in swift water rescue, we can't put in divers, we can't do anything of that nature until the water level comes down. It's very tough, very frustrating for us," said Mitzi Johanknecht of the King Co. Sheriff's Office.

Authorities reported at least eight rescues Saturday in King County, two using a boat, and six teenagers on a raft trip were rescued by rope and raft late Saturday night after they spent more than four hours on a rock amid strong currents on the Nisqually River between Pierce and Thurston counties about a mile east of Yelm.

Wendy Moffatt with South Pierce Fire and Rescue estimated the water temperature at about 40 degrees, and the river was running about two feet higher than normal.

The high runoff problems extended north into Canada as search personnel scoured the Cowichan River on Vancouver Island for a man who was swept away while rafting through heavy rapids Saturday afternoon.

The Sheriff's Office said the Cedar River and Green River will remain closed to recreation until all danger has passed.

Two days of high temperatures caused the rivers to rise because of fast snow melt.

The Green and Cedar rivers in King County were closed to recreation Saturday because high, swift water and its cold temperature made them dangerous.

Urquhart said rescuers were "overwhelmed" by the number of rescue calls. Command posts were set up at Flaming Geyser, Kanasket Palmer, and in the Hanging Gardens area.

Flood danger remains

A flood watch remains in effect for King, Lewis and Pierce counties, according to the National Weather Service.

A flood watch for Skagit and Snohomish counties was canceled Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, three roads were closed in Snohomish County due to high water and some farmland was flooded.

An avalanche warning for the Cascade and Olympic Mountains remains in effect.

Corps brings flood teams to region

As several rivers began to crest in Eastern Washington, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers brought teams of experts to the Pacific Northwest to help communities deal with flooding.

The corps says more than a dozen veteran flood engineers, environmental scientists and other specialists are working in the Pend Oreille, St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene river basins in Idaho. Teams are also working in Washington's Yakima-Naches basin and the Kootenai River basin in Montana.

KING

Rivers are running high and fast because of snow melt.

Temperatures remained in the upper 80s and lower 90s on Sunday, hastening the annual snow melt runoff that has swollen rivers and streams across the region.

No major damage had been reported Sunday as rivers began cresting.

The National Weather Service upgraded a flood watch to a flood warning for the Wenatchee River at Peshastin in Washington state. Only minor flooding was expected.

The service also issued flood watches in Washington state for the Entiat River near Ardenvoir, the Spokane River near Spokane and in Idaho for Lake Coeur d'Alene in Benewah and Kootenai Counties and the Coeur d'Alene River in Shoshone and Kootenai counties.

The Weather Service canceled a flood watch for the Clearwater River in Lewis and Nez Perce counties in Idaho.