Boaters Advised to Avoid Willamette River as High Water Dislodges Logs and Debris

Unusually heavy rain in Northwest Oregon has turned the Willamette River into a minefield of debris.

WW's news partner KATU floated the river today with Portland Fire and Rescue, capturing on video the mess that has washed into Portland on a swollen river.

.@PDXFire advises boaters to avoid local rivers right now due to all the debris floating downstream. We toured the Willamette on Fire Boat 21 and it was a constant stream of logs, limbs, and other objects that had been washed into the river due to recent flooding #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/MthdAtUJ8z
— Evan Bell (@evanbellKATU) April 11, 2019

The fire department and the National Weather Service are advising that boaters avoid the river until the flooding subsides. NWS yesterday issued flood warnings for towns all along the Willamette. That warning is in effect throughout the weekend.

Boaters should use extreme caution along the Willamette & Columbia Rivers, if not entirely avoid them, for the next couple of days due to the unusually high flows & the large amounts of debris floating down the river systems. #ColumbiaRiver #April2019Flood #pdxtst https://t.co/SWggo0rfub
— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) April 11, 2019

The agency notes that river levels between Salem and Portland are expected to continue to raise slowly but remain below flood stage.

The Willamette River from Salem to Oregon City to Portland will continue to rise slowly, but is expected to remain below flood stage in those areas. Find the latest river levels and forecasts at https://t.co/iPfKBVo0sT
— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) April 11, 2019