Oregon Public Broadcasting

Southwest Washington and the North Oregon coast are drying off after extensive flooding. And as Kristian Foden-Vencil report, I-5 is expected to re-open this afternoon.

Floodwaters are no longer running over I-5, but silt and other debris still need to be removed.

For a second consecutive winter, I-5 was shut for a 20-mile stretch around Centralia.

10,000 trucks usually make that trip everyday, meaning local businesses have lost an estimated $10 million. Some restaurants and motels did good business as drivers waited to make the trip.

A long-term fix for the road is a ways off. Building and rehabbing levees is a $120 million job that would literally take an act of Congress. Meaning closures may be a fact of life until at least 2016.

On the positive side, the weather system that brought so much rain – the Pineapple Express – has been forced north by a high pressure system, meaning Canada and Alaska are getting the moisture.

Forecasters say it’ll remain dry here over the weekend.