Flooding, landslides impact Washington coastal communities

PACIFIC BEACH, Wash. - Steady rain fell along Washington state’s beaches Tuesday. The winter weather pushed rivers to run high, flooding roadways and causing landslide to impact travel and large waves are blamed for killing one person in Pacific Beach earlier this week.

Flooding near Ocean City covered a portion of SR 109 leaving the highway inundated with water. State Troopers said the water was deep enough to close the road.

South of Cosmopolis along U.S. Highway 101 a landslide closed the northbound lanes for most of the day before crews could clear the debris.

In Hoquiam, a high tide forced the Hoquiam River to rise but surrounding communities were not impacted by substantial flooding or standing water on roads.

Farther west into Grays Harbor County, the Satsop River entered flood stage, covering some farmland and nearby roadways, said the National Weather Service. Minor flooding was expected to recede as the river was expected to crest by Tuesday evening.

The National Weather Service recorded more than half an inch of rainfall in Humptulips on Sunday. That morning at nearby Pacific Beach State Park, an Island County woman died after being gravely injured when logs were rolled by waves said Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s deputies. A bystander attempted CPR on the 54-year-old victim from Oak Harbor but deputies say she died on the way to a hospital.

Deputies say rogue waves are rare but not impossible when large tides combine with winter weather storms.