Heavy rains douse C-W

Snowfall and heavy rains caused a number of problems with flooding in the local area last week.

According to the National Weather Service, the higher elevations of the greater Camas, Washougal and Vancouver areas received up to a foot of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. Beginning on Tuesday, the area was doused with nearly 3 inches of rain and the National Weather Service issued an urban and small stream flood advisory that remained in effect for much of the day.

The most noticeable impact in Washougal was the closure of J Street from 39th to 40th streets for approximately 16 hours, according to Assistant Public Works Director Jim Dunn. Heavy rain caused the culverts to overflow and spill onto the roadway. The road re-opened on Thursday.

Part of M Street was also closed for a period of time, Dunn said. A few of the homes in the immediate area suffered some landscape damage, but because sandbags were put into place quickly impacts to private property were limited.

According to Dunn, this area experiences frequent flooding during heavy rains and plans are underway to fix the problems.

“There are three culverts in the area that have been identified for replacement on our Capital Facilities Plan for storm water,” he said. “We are working on environmental permitting and anticipate construction in 2013 and 2014.”

In Camas, according to Public Works Director Eric Levison, the rain and snow caused a number of localized issues. The most significant of which was a culvert that was plugged by debris at McIntosh and Brady roads that caused damage to Brady Road. It also exposed natural gas and sewer mains, although no leaks were discovered.

Levison said the city would make repairs that will keep the area safe in the short-term. It will be re-evaluated at a later date to find a long-term solution so that the problem does not repeat itself.

Other issues included water over the roadway on Northwest 38th Avenue, Pacific Rim Drive was closed for about four hours due to standing water over the road created by a plugged culvert, and heavy runoff that needed to be diverted by city crews at Northwest Maryland and 24th Avenue.

As of Friday, Levison said, these issues had been resolved.