Centralia Man Dies In Rising Waters -- The Rain Eases, But Residents Brace For More Flooding

The torrential rains and floods in Western Washington have claimed their first victim with the discovery today of a man's body floating in flood water near his Centralia home.

The man, whose identity was not immediately available, was found about 10:30 a.m. in the Oakview area of north Centralia, according to the Centralia Fire Department.

The man, believed to be in his 60s, was found about 50 feet from his home. His car was found in water at an intersection nearby. It's not known how the man died, fire officials said.

The rain storm that brought major flooding to the Centralia area is considered one of the worst to hit the west side of the state in some time, according to the National Weather Service.

The forecast calls for a high-pressure area to hang around until Friday, when a low-pressure area will bring in clouds and some rain showers ``but nothing like what we had yesterday,'' said Martin Thompson, Weather Service specialist.

Residents in Centralia, 80 miles south of Seattle, struggled with major flooding today from the Chehalis and Skookumchuck rivers.

The Chehalis River was expected to crest at more than eight feet above flood stage this afternoon, the Weather Service said.

High water prompted state officials to close Interstate 5 at nearby Chehalis at 8:30 last night. The highway was still closed this morning due to high water, causing major traffic delays for interstate travelers who were being detoured around the closure.

Downtown Centralia was hit hard by flooding, said Bob Berg, director of public works and support services for Lewis County.

As the swelling Skookumchuck River broke through a dike early this morning, 57 residents of a convalescent center were evacuated and housed in an elementary school. Other residents in the northern section of town were evacuated as well.

``We were loading people and wheelchairs in big trucks and moving others by buses,'' said Berg.

``We've evacuated well over 200 people and I can safely say about 2,000 have been threatened.''

``People are having to make the decision on whether to sandbag and fight it or just get out of there and clean up later,'' said Berg.

``We have a military chopper available today. We've received a lot of work from the National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and citizens in hip boots.''

Centralia residents Shellie Neumann and her male companion were awakened at 4 this morning to the sounds of honking and shouting. They found about 18 inches of water in their living room.

``We stood there at the door watching everyone run around for a while and decided we better get out, too,'' said Neumann, who was staying with her infant daughter at a Seventh-Day Adventist church in town today.

The rain that has swelled rivers also flooded roads, swept into homes and sent mud slides crashing down in much of King and Pierce Counties.

The reprieve today comes after rainfall closed more than 50 roadways, caused dozens of mud slides, flooded basements and backed-up drains.

Sand-bagging crews braced for flooding rivers today, despite a forecast of drier weather in Western Washington.

In the Seattle area, areas hardest hit by rains appeared to be south King County and Pierce County and the Eastside suburbs.

Kindergartners were evacuated from a stranded school bus in Pierce County, a store roof collapsed under the weight of heavy rains in Bellevue, and a mud slide cascaded into a Kent apartment building, injuring one man.

A list of flood warnings for Western Washington rivers issued today by the Weather Service included eight rivers above flood stage.

The Snohomish River crested early today at Monroe at about 1.9 feet above flood stage and the Cowlitz had crested at Castle Rock at two feet above flood stage.

Other rivers where flood warnings remained in effect were the Cedar, White, Klickitat, Snoqualmie, Chehalis and Skookumchuck.

More than 2,000 logs moored in the Snohomish River near Everett broke free and floated into Puget Sound last night because of high water. Some logs drifted as far south as Seattle near Carkeek Park, and boaters were warned to watch out for the drifting wood. About 2,700 logs broke free.

Yesterday, the State Patrol reported more than 30 roadway closures - including five state highways in the region - but all of those roadways had been reopened by late yesterday evening.

In Pierce County, a sheriff's deputy and five citizens evacuated 12 kindergartners from a school bus stranded in water up to its windows between Puyallup and Tacoma. The six adults carried the kindergartners on their shoulders.

``I'm sure those kindergartners won't forget that bus ride for a while,'' said Janice Brevik, a spokeswoman for Pierce County Emergency Management.

More than 80 residents of a nursing home in McKenna were evacuated by Pierce County authorities to schools in Yelm; earlier, 50 people were evacuated from a senior center in Sumner.

In King County, the American Red Cross opened four shelters to house people left homeless or worried about rising waters.

Hope Tuttle, director of public affairs, said the American Red Cross set up shelters at the Des Moines United Methodist Church, St. Michael's and All Angels Church in Issaquah, Eastside Free Methodist Church in Bellevue and Zion Lutheran Church in Kent.

``It's so widespread, it's completely across the county,'' she said. ``There are people calling and saying the water is coming up, what do I do?''

A man swept from his Kent apartment unit by a mudslide yesterday morning was reported in stable condition at Swedish Hospital in Seattle today. The man was identified as Steve Hunt, 26.

Terrence Gilseth, another tenant in the Central Apartments in Kent, said the injured man was swept through two walls of the 10-unit building and landed on Gilseth's bed, hollering.

On the Eastside, Bellevue city employees scurried about Newport Shores yesterday building up the banks of Coal Creek with sandbags. A mud slide near 855 West Sammamish Parkway crushed four parked cars about 8:55 a.m.

Seattle officials reported that the city did not suffer major damage, but they were warily watching for more mud slides today. Small slides caused at least five temporary street closures yesterday. Flooding also closed several streets, particularly in the South Park area.

``The bigger risk right now is slides, particularly if it keeps raining. The ground can't absorb this much water,'' said Kevin Clark, director of the city's drainage and wastewater utility.

Executive Tim Hill today was to declare a state of emergency in King County.

Judging by the number of phone calls King County has received from flooded home owners, this rain storm has caused trouble equal to the big storm of 1986, said Jim Kramer, manager of the county's surface water division. But Lou Hoff, county road engineer, said county roads were not hit as hard this time.

-- Times staff reporters Bob Lane, Nancy Montgomery, Michele Matassa, Charles Aweeka, Kate Shatzkin, Anh Do, Christy Scattarella, Michael Arrieta-Walden, Richard Seven, Dee Norton, and Charles E. Brown contributed to this report.