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[h=4]Wettest day in Portland history causes landslides, floods[/h]Rain expected to stick around for days with worst still to come.
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Heavy flooding forced residents to evacuate a neighborhood in Clackamas County, Oregon, near Portland. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for northwest Oregon and southwest Washington due to heavy rain in the Pacific Northwest. (Dec. AP
Road closure in McMinnville(Photo: Danyell Miller-Logsdon)
PORTLAND, Ore.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Monday was the wettest calendar day in recorded history in Portland, and the rain was expected to stick around for days.
KGW-TV meteorologist Matt Zaffino said nearly 2.7 inches of rain on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Monday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>tied a record for one day, from 12:01 a.m. to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>12:00 a.m. The previous record was set on Nov. 19, 1996. More rain was forecast for Monday night, and Zaffino said the record would be sure to break.
The storm that caused floods, landslides, road closures and even a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>sinkhole was expected to bring its<span style="color: Red;">*</span>next wave of heavy rain Tuesday, possibly during the evening commute.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation said people<span style="color: Red;">*</span>should expect delays in every mode of transportation in the metro area for the next several days.
USA TODAY
Tuesday's forecast: Stormy Northwest, mild elsewhere
Authorities<span style="color: Red;">*</span>were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>offering sandbags<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to any area residents who needed them.
At a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>news conference Monday afternoon, transportation spokesman Dylan Rivera called the weather an "extraordinary event that had extraordinary impacts."
Rivera said 5.61 inches of rain had fallen so far this month, with three inches falling within a 12-hour period.
The<span style="color: Red;">*</span>December average for rainfall<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the metro area is 5.49 inches.
KGW meteorologist Rod Hill said said the worst of the storm will likely happen<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on Tuesday night and continue into Thursday.
"We'll see several shots of long, steady, heavy rain <span style="color: Red;">*</span>on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Tuesday, Wednesday and possibly even Thursday," Hill<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch<span style="color: Red;">*</span>for most of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington through Wednesday afternoon.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The watch includes the greater Portland metro area, north and central Oregon coast, the central Willamette Valley, the central Columbia River Gorge, the north and central Coast Range, and the northern Oregon Cascades and Cascade foothills.
This landslide occurred along SE Foster Road Monday.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: KGW)
"Alerts for wind,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flooding and mudslides will be common through the days of Wednesday and Thursday," Hill added.
The pouring rain triggered landslides, forced people to abandon their cars and caused widespread flooding<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on Monday.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Johnson Creek<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flooded in Portland and Milwaukie, sending floodwaters over bridges and into roads.
On Monday morning,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Portland's combined sewer system overflowed into the Willamette River and the Columbia Slough.The Bureau of Environmental Services urged people to avoid coming into contact with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>waterways and floodwaters.
Canoeing in the McMinnville WalMart parking lot<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Corbin Moore)
"It's really important that folks minimize their contact with this water," a BEC spokeswoman said at a press conference. "It's extremely polluted.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>There are oil cans, gas cans, dog poop, industrial pollution<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who knows what else. It's really dirty."
Drivers were stranded in many areas. Along Northwest 13th Street and Quimby Street in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Portland,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>cars were abandoned<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in rising water.
Sinkhole in Gresham<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: KGW)
In Lake Oswego, three drivers were stuck in high water along Fielding Road. The people inside the vehicles had to be rescued, but no one was hurt.
In Gresham, a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>sinkhole<span style="color: Red;">*</span>near Mount Hood Community College took out two lanes on Southeast Kane Road. The college will be closed through Tuesday night.
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