Goodbye Paradise?

You want an answer to why the levees aren't repaired... it's because there are fishies in the river. That is the number one reason.

Wrong. No anadromous fish and no TES fish in the river. FEMA went broke under Bush and did not reimburse the county (who maintains the levee) $900,000 they were due from the 2006 floods; the 2008 damage was $750,000; now there certainly is more damage.

The news is sad enough without having to read your thinly veiled sarcasm re "lord Obama".  Please don't unnecessarily raise your backcountry brother's bloodpressure with your misdirected invective. Remember, courtesy is the norm here.

thinly veiled? Apparently you haven't seen the myriad of sociopolitical cartoons addressing what many beliefs are the unrealistic, unsupported, and unrestrained hopes people have in Obama; I just hope everyone who places hope in Obama are right in doing so.

Considering the stress you must be under living next to that pile of river biscuits and drift logs, I found the Obama remark amusing.  And I even voted for the poor devil!   

So far, the gauge readings are running a bit below the projections:
ahps2.wrh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?...sw1&view=1,1,1,1,1,1

Paradise telemetry is showing 'only' about 2" rain in 8 hours and 5" lost at the snow stake.  Maybe we'll all squeak through.  Can everyone say 'runnels'?

I voted for him too and even sent him lots of money during the campaign.

Mount Rainier: Flood damage closes road to Paradise
CRAIG HILL; The News Tribune
Published: January 9th, 2009 04:42 AM | Updated: January 9th, 2009 06:48 AM
A 100-foot section of road in Mount Rainier National Park was damaged by floodwaters, acting park superintendent Randy King said Thursday.
Road crews still were accessing the damage and had not determined how soon they can repair and reopen the only winter route to Paradise.
The Nisqually Road has been closed above Longmire since Monday. The road closed entirely overnight, but partially reopened Thursday morning. The road damage is just above the Nisqually Glacier View Bridge at about 4,000 feet, King said.
The Federal Highway Administration will also review the damage.
King said as much as an entire lane of the road was scoured away by the swollen river. The damaged area has not typically been susceptible to flood damage, King said, however there were avalanches in the area last year.
Areas like Sunshine Point, Kautz Creek and Longmire, damaged by the historic 2006 flood, are holding up well, King said.
“It is not on the level of two years ago,” King said.
Flooded roads outside the park have kept officials from being able to reach areas like Carbon River Road and Ohanapecosh Campground to check for damage. King is concerned that heavy snow loads on buildings could cause damage.
Craig Hill, The News Tribune

Pictures available on the News Tribune's website (but not MRNP's website) showing the damaged road (obviously not damaged by the river but by avalanche and maybe plain old erosion).

Holy guacamole!  USGS just updated the projected curve to show a new record at 13.3...

Looks like it reached 12.7 ft/ca. 13,500 cu. ft./sec, making it the 3rd highest flow on record behind 2006 and 2008.

The river was running at 400 cfs, below the 600 cfs, before skyrocketing to >13,000 cfs. And just 450 ft from my house!

How's your blood pressure doing, Andy?  

Couldn't find the TNT photo. Could some non-caveperson post it please?