Floods

Summary: The survival of an Elgin couple spared by a slide exemplifies the damage done by weather-related problems throughout the state

The wind awakened Karen and Melvin Carlsen at 2:30 a.m. New Year's Day.

But a mudslide battering into their northeastern Oregon home moments later has prevented them from sleeping much since.

"I heard a roar that sounded like a freight train coming down the hill above us," said Karen Carlsen, 55. "I looked out to see a monstrous black wall of mud flowing down the hill, and seconds later it slammed into the house."

A 4-foot-high wall of mud flattened the door and piled into the living room, she said. Curiously, the mud probably saved their lives by plugging the doorway and preventing a rushing stream of water from entering, she said.

"It was mud damming the door that diverted the water," Carlsen said. "Otherwise, we would have had to run for our lives."

The mud hit the 4-year-old house with enough force to move it six to eight inches, she said.

"We are still on the foundation, but we're sitting cockeyed."

The mud caved in the outer wall of a guest bedroom, tossing furniture onto a bed and heaving the bed through an interior wall, she said. Had the slide been 30 feet to one side, it would have been in their bedroom.

"I don't see how we could have survived such a thing," she said.

Steep draws above the house were thick with ponderosa pine and fir when Karen Carlsen and her 67-year-old husband retired in 1992 to the Elgin area after ranching for 30 years near North Powder.

"Those were the trees that held the snow," she said.

The mountainside was logged in 1993, and now "it's just bare," she said. "It's just a big bare gash on the face of that hill above us."

Elsewhere around Oregon:

NORTH COAST

Two recreation vehicles in Tillamook County were destroyed by high wind this week, Joann Spencer, an emergency management worker, said.

The Nehalem River was 2 feet above flood stage Thursday evening and was expected to remain above flood stage through today.

In Clatsop County, Oregon 103 near Jewel is open only to four-wheel-drive trucks because of high water.

SOUTH COAST

Crews reopened one lane of traffic on U.S. 101 after a slide closed the highway about 10 miles south of Port Orford.

Traffic was slowed around slides about four miles and 10 miles south of Port Orford. Delays as long as 20 minutes were occurring.

A slide closed Oregon 42S between Bandon and Coquille.

The lower Rogue River on Thursday reportedly flooded four buildings.

On the Rogue's north bank across from Gold Beach, Jot's Resort was partially flooded, with high water and debris in the parking lot.

COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE

Another huge rock crashed down onto Oregon 35 on Thursday afternoon, and a state Department of Transportation spokesman said the road on Mount Hood wouldn't be open until today -- if then.

No one was hurt when the cliff face came down Thursday, Ron Scheele, a department spokesman, said.

Because of the slide, Mt. Hood Meadows ski area is accessible only from U.S. 26.

Washington 14 on the north bank of the Columbia River reopened Thursday.

WILLAMETTE VALLEY

A dozen homes in two new Keizer subdivisions remained flooded Thursday, and the city declared an emergency. Homes have as much as 5 feet of water.

The upscale houses are in a low-lying area near Labish Ditch.

Residents of the neighborhood off North River Road complained in recent days about the city not doing enough to correct the problem following February's floods.

In Lane County, two homeowners were unable to reach their homes because of damage from mudslides and uprooted trees.

CENTRAL OREGON

No one knows how high the Deschutes or Little Deschutes rivers will rise, how many homes will be affected or what kind of damage looms.

On Thursday, only a few homes in the Tumalo area appeared to be at risk. But officials warned that the rivers will continue to swell for at least several days and could threaten homes near La Pine. SOUTH-CENTRAL OREGON

Residents were facing rising waters from the Sprague River in Klamath County.

An emergency shelter was being set up for people living along the river who decided to leave their homes.

Meanwhile, Lakeview residents got a reprieve as Bullard Creek receded to its banks.

Road closures include Oregon 140 east of Lakeview and U.S. 395 from Valley Falls to Burns. Oregon 140 from Klamath Falls to Medford was reopened, as was Oregon 31 from Lakeview to La Pine.

EASTERN OREGON

A helicopter was being used Thursday to rescue 14 people stranded along the flood-swollen Imnaha River in northeastern Oregon. High water either inundated or isolated their homes.

The remote site, known as Imnaha River Woods, 19 miles south of the town of Imnaha, encompasses about six flood-threatened homes. At least two bridges were out. The town of Imnaha also was hit hard by high water: One Imnaha home was washed away; a landslide Wednesday destroyed another.

With high water and slides blocking the only road access from the town of Joseph, the Red Cross was providing emergency supplies to the town.

Oregon 3, connecting Enterprise and Lewiston, Idaho, may be closed for two or three weeks.

Other closures included Oregon 86 between Richland and Oxbow near the Snake River in Baker County; three segments of U.S. 26 near Prineville, Mitchell and Dayville; Oregon 207 near Spray; and U.S. 395 at Mount Vernon and south of Pilot Rock.

Correspondents Kate Freedlander, John Griffith, Jeannie Senior, Cheryl Martinis, Janet Filips and Gordon Gregory contributed to this report.