Oregon Public Broadcasting

Rising floodwaters are closing highways, forcing schools to let out early, and driving hundreds of people from home all through Washington State. 

Jim McGinn is an organic farmer.  His aptly named Rising River Farm lies next to the Chehalis River in southwest Washington. 

McGinn and his family expect to evacuate their farm Wednesday night and move in with friends on higher ground.  McGinn feels better prepared after learning lessons from a calamitous flood just over a year ago.

Jim McGinn: “We learn a little bit every time.  More and more we realize how much we need to at the end of the farm season just put things away so that we don’t have so much to do when it’s happening.  Even though we’ve been here many years, we still learn something new every year.”

The Army Corps of Engineers is holding back water where it can behind dams in the Willamette Valley and on Western Washington’s Green, White, Skagit and Wynoochee Rivers.

An urban and small stream flood warning is also in effect for eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle through Friday.