Oregon Public Broadcasting

Heavy rain, strong winds and unseasonably warm temperatures have rivers and streams rising around Oregon. 

Water started lapping over Highway 101 near Seaside Wednesday, prompting a detour for drivers. 

In Nehalem, city officials are bracing for two to three feet of water flooding the downtown area when the Nehalem River crests Thursday.

The river itself isn’t the problem, but combined with an above-average high tide, flooding is pretty much guaranteed.

Julia Ruthford is a metereorologist with the National Weather Service.

Julia Ruthford: “When you have a high tide like that, and a lot of water coming down the river, it causes the water to back up the river, and makes the crest of the flood higher than it would be if the tide wasn’t here – and so that affects a lot of the rivers that are close enough to the ocean to be influenced by the tide.”

In Vernonia, school is cancelled Thursday, and the Providence medical clinic there has used shrink wrap on the outside of its building to try to avoid flood damage.

In Portland, Johnson Creek is expected to flood.  The city has established four sites where people can fill sandbags.

The Willamette is also expected to reach flood stage Thursday, but forecasters say the water should stay within the riverbanks.