If you haven’t been watching the news, the Pacific Northwest was hit by a big storm system this week. Some areas of the Oregon cost saw wind speeds close to 130 mph. The city of Bremerton received nearly 10 inches of rain in a 24 hour period and several local rivers have reached or exceeded flood stage. One of the worst has been the Chehalis river between the towns of Chehalis and Centralia. Although we are high and dry at the house, my wife has been greatly affected by the flooding. Interstate 5 has been closed at her exit due to 8 feet (or more) of water standing on the freeway. The Kmart likely had 2 feet of water inside the store.

With I-5 closed there is only a few ways to get a down to Chehalis. If you don’t know the back roads the only way is to follow the DOT’s suggested detour which is about 440 miles and 7 hours of driving (in good weather). The back ways are only 1.5 to 2 hours.

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