River levels and Boise Cascade

[Waterbuffalo]

Doing some research into flooding into the Columbia River area, I came across this site which shows what would happen if the river got to this flood or that flood stage in Downtown Vancouver and North Portland areas.

The 1948 Vanport flood before they put in the Flood Control dams in Canada and Idaho was at 31 feet in Vancouver. Now this measure point was right at I-5, so this point should be very close to Gramor's level.

Now the dams do conrol a lot of the water level in this River, but what happens if we have a 1994, 1996 and 100 yr. flood? Could this impact this site?

31 feet at Columbia River See here for what it means: http://ahps2.wrh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=pqr&gage=vanw1

Also add there is flood and water level data for the river on this site (current data..)

Now I also need to add pictures of what a flood could mean for Vancouver. If you take a look at these pictures, you can see what the Willamette did to Portland BEFORE they built all those nice condos right at the river. Look for Portland's Union Station in the pictures. Also look at the Camas Washington photo they have.

Tell me I am not imagining things?

Source of pictures is here: http://www.ccrh.org/center/corpsimages.htm

[Chief]

Excellent work! Let me read and digest this a bit before I comment...

Well done!

[Waterbuffalo]

:-) Don't say i don't enjoy 300K of searching google links? 8-)

Take a nice look at my favorite, the pictures on the ccrh link..

Added: this could not happen because of the Columbia River Dams in BC and idaho that hold back water and basically creates the Columbia and Snake River Basins in the Pacific NW.

If you search for the Columbia River Treaty, you'll see how this was all created.

My current concerns are the flooding we HAVE had in the recent 10 to 15 years that has been almost this high because of the same situations of snow, amounts of rains or Snow pack melt that comes down in a short order instead of our average spring thaws. All three of these situations have happened..

[Waterbuffalo]

Here are more stats for you: that were copied from oregonlive.com, but I copied from here: http://www.crcwater.org/issues12/20010227floods.html

THE FLOOD OF 1996

Found on Oregon Live 2/7/2001

SCOPE OF FLOODWATERS

-- River crests at 3 p.m. Feb. 9, 1996

Willamette: 28 feet, 7 inches (top of harbor wall, 29 feet; flood stage, 18 feet)

Columbia: 27 feet, 2 inches at Vancouver, Wash. (flood stage, 16 feet)

Tualatin: 18 feet, 4 inches at West Linn (flood stage, 13 feet, 2 inches)

Willamette: 19 feet, 6 inches at upper Oregon City (flood stage, 14 feet)

-- Oregon rivers reaching or exceeding flood stage: 26

-- Counties declared disaster areas in Oregon: 17, plus the Warm Springs Reservation

-- Counties declared disaster areas in Washington: 13

-- Deaths in Oregon: 8

-- Deaths in Washington: 5

-- People evacuated in Oregon: 22,000, including 10,000 in Keizer

-- People evacuated in Washington: 7,000

-- Homes damaged or destroyed in Oregon: 2,200

-- Homes damaged or destroyed in Clark County, Wash.: 700 DAMAGE ESTIMATES

Costs of the flood are inexact and spread out among several federal and state agencies. Oregon's Office of Emergency Management has completed nearly 3,000 financial recovery projects and expects to complete its role by the end of this month. Some of the following figures are estimates.

-- Federal Emergency Management Agency contributions in Oregon: $104.3 million

-- Small Business Administration contributions in Oregon: $71 million

-- National Flood Insurance contributions: $29.5 million

-- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recovery costs: $10.3 million

-- Cost to repair Oregon highways: $166 million

-- Cost to repair Washington highways: $150 million

-- Hardest-hit Oregon counties (per FEMA Public Assistance Program contributions): Tillamook, $12.1 million; Clackamas, $7.7 million; Multnomah, $6.9 million; Columbia, $5.9 million

OTHER FACTS AND FIGURES

-- Sandbags given out in Oregon by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: 664,600

-- Sandbags along Portland's harbor wall: 40,000

-- Mudslides in Portland: 100-plus

-- Points on state highways closed by mud or water: 180

-- 1 million tons of mud, rocks and cobbles smothered Interstate 84

-- OMSI: Sandbags used, 5,628; days closed because of flooding, 107; damage to structure and electrical system, $1.3 million

-- Highway dividers used: 438

-- Panels erected to contain flooding at Portland's harbor wall (4-by-8-foot plywood): 600

-- Trail's End travails: The end of the Oregon Trail was essentially ground zero for the flood. In a 25- to 30-square-block area of downtown Oregon City, 100 businesses and 25 homes were damaged, as the water depth reached 5 feet, 6 inches at Washington and 15th streets and 15 feet 6 inches in the parking lot of the End of Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

-- Ports closed: The Port of Vancouver and others on the Columbia and Willamette rivers.

-- Days the Columbia River was closed to commercial traffic: five

-- Amtrak was shut down, and Greyhound buses went nowhere when highways U.S. 26, Interstate 84 and U.S. 30 were closed by mudslides.

-- Number of trains Union Pacific railroad had stacked up between Seattle and Cheyenne, Wyo., because of flooding: 78

-- Interstate 5 was closed at Chehalis, Wash., with one lane opening four days after the flood peaked.

-- Portland's Burnside and Steel bridges remained in the open position for several days.

-- The Red Cross, with 566 workers and volunteers, served more than 90,000 meals and housed 6,000 people.

-- Oregon National Guard troops activated: 797

-- Prison inmates who volunteered to help: 119

-- Mist residents cut off from rest of civilization: 200

-- Milk cows killed by flooding in Tillamook County: 1,200

-- Norm Maves Jr.

[Chief]

The 1996 flood was when Who Song and Larry's found out that thier restaurant was 6" too low as i recall...

[Waterbuffalo]

From what I have been reading off various web sites, the 1948 flood that killed so many people at Vanport was only 4 feet under this number listed above. They measure the water level at 31 feet during the 1948 flood. Now can you tell me still that Gramor isn't in danger?

[Waterbuffalo]

Bumps subject..

While burning off some steem early at 12:30am I came across this photo from the Center for Columbia RIver History, if you look at this photo from Bonneville Power Administration, please take a look?

Do a where's waldo now and see if you can find him at these points: (Please be sure to blow up this picture to 200 percent to get great vantage points)

North side of the Columbia River bridge? Yes, you can see where she drops? Shipping channel anyone?

Boise Cascade?

Anyone swim in Vancouver Lake that size?

Where did Who song and larry's float to? The old Coast Guard station disappear?

Who wants to take a swim near that BNSF rail berm? Any takers?

Here is the link to the website I see the pic at. Download the picture riverw.jpg, blow it up 200 percent and please don't tell me my eyes are deceiving me? Its the second picture on the website...

http://www.ccrh.org/comm/slough/vpflood.htm

Read all the above information and tell me that a 100 year flood couldn't do this again?

[Chief]

I think, but am not sure, that it was the infamous Vanport flood that led to the construction of those berms you speak of that protect PDX and everything along Marine Drive. Also, flood control on the Columbia was helped dramatically when the Snake River dams were built so that Bonneville didn't get pressured so badly during a rain event that melts snow.

Vanport was literally a watershed moment for flood control in this area. There was so much damage, and so many people killed or displaced by the flood that the Army Corps and others got busy and worked up a very effective flood control plan that has prevented the same thing from happening again....at least not yet.

[Waterbuffalo]

Now I might still be asleep at the wheel buit aren't the enviromentalists working to take down some or all of the Snake river dams including some of the water control ones?

Shall I dare to think that this might happen again?