Rising river levels could lead to floods, warn Lane County authorities. As KLCC’s Brian Bull reports, there are precautions residents can take ahead of any emergency.
It’s been a heavy wet winter and spring isn’t likely to be any drier.
Linda Cook is Emergency Manager for Lane County. She says she’s been monitoring recent weather forecasts and is particularly concerned about the communities near the Siuslaw and Mohawk Rivers.
“The thing that’s unique about Lane County is we have so many creeks and tributaries that feed into some of these rivers," says Cook. "That if one of the river levels gets too high, then some of those creeks can back up and then we end up with some localized flooding.
"We don’t want anybody caught by surprise, and that’s when we end up having to do middle of the night rescues.”
Cook says she’s seeing water encroach on properties in the Mohawk area. She advises people to stock up on food, medicine, and batteries in case they get flooded in. And fuel tanks should be secured as well.
Copyright 2017, KLCC.