THE CHEHALIS RIVER FLOODPLAIN

Between the cities of Centralia and Chehalis, exactly halfway between Seattle and Portland, several rivers flow east down from the Willapa Hills and west from the Cascade Range, converging in a wide floodplain. In the mid 1960s the Interstate 5 freeway was completed, dissecting this floodplain. Still until the late 1980s the landscape remained largely rural. But in the last 20 years large strip malls and industrial parks have covered over former farm and forestland. In 1990 the freeway was closed to due flooding for only the second time since it opened. Then in 1996 a one hundred year flood closed it down again. After the flood waters receded political leadership in Lewis County, where the floodplain lies, and the Washington State Department of Transportation tried to come up with a plan to prevent future flooding on the freeway and adjacent lands, but after many rounds of talks no decision was reached. Large-scale commercial development continued in the floodplain and eleven years later another major flood shut down the same 20 mile stretch of the freeway for several days. 13 months later, in January 2009, the freeway was closed due to yet another flood.

As climate change increasing the frequency and intensity of flooding in the Northwest, business as usual in the Chehalis floodplain may no longer be an option.

A metaphor for the potential influence of climate change on heavy weather in the Chehalis Basin.

2 Years after the flood, Walmart and other flooded businesses in this floodplain have been restored thanks to FEMA funds. Across the freeway more construction is underway.