Rising water closes I-5 in Lewis county

I-5 was closed this evening at 6:00 p.m. We originally planned on closing it around midnight tonight, however, because of the amount of water over the highway it was closed earlier than anticipated. We will have crews standing in the rain all night monitoring the rising waters.

At the moment there are no north-south routes available between Seattle and Portland. All three major east-west mountain pass highways through the Cascade Mountains remain closed due to extreme avalanche danger and mudslides. These passes are not expected to open until crews have safe access to the highways and can assess the avalanche danger and inspect the roadways. The priority for tomorrow will be opening I-90.

Word is that the rain will be lighter tomorrow, however, rivers will continue to rise.