PENINSULA DAILY NEWS NEWS SOURCES
PORT ANGELES — Flooding last week that closed highways, cut power, ripped out river channels and threatened rural homes did at least $3 million damage to roads in Olympic National Park.
Park stafff and engineers from the Federal Highway Administration completed initial inspections over the weekend.
The world-renowned Hoh Rain Forest remains inaccessible, with no clear timeline for reopening.
And more damage — from high winds Sunday — closed the North Shore Quinault Road in the park’s southwest corner.
Other park roads are also closed, littered with rocks and tree limbs.
“Initial estimates have reached $3 million for repairing the damage we currently know about,” said Olympic National Park Superintendent Bill Laitner.
“As we assess park trails, and with the forecast calling for continued rain and high winds later this week, we will likely see the repair bill go higher.”
In addition to the damage at Olympic National Park, nearly 18 inches of rain that fell in 36 hours forced the closure of Mount Rainier National Park last week for the first time in 26 years.
The Nisqually River engulfed Nisqually Road, the main scenic highway through the park, cutting electricity for its western half as well as the main sewer line at Longmire, where a historic inn sits, and leaving a quarter-mile gash in the highway.
The river now flows where a campground once stood.
Normal operations at Rainier probably will not resume until mid-December, park officials said.
Farther east, Montana’s Glacier National Park received close to a foot of rain, causing widespread flooding and damaging the popular Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Olympic National Park officials gave this assessment Monday:
Hoh Road
Three sites along the road into the Hoh Rain Forest were severely damaged by floodwaters along several tributaries of the Hoh River.
The most significant damage occurred at West Twin Creek, where a 75-foot long and 25-foot deep section of road was completely washed away.
At Taft Creek, 500 feet of road were damaged; in some places less than one traffic lane of road surface remain.
A logjam has diverted another tributary, causing it to flow over the Hoh Road rather than under it.
Additional damage occurred outside the park boundary, and the road is still closed at U.S. Highway 101 while Jefferson County crews work to reopen the county’s section of road.
North Shore Quinault Road
High winds Sunday left the North Shore Quinault Road littered with an estimated 50 old growth trees that closed the road and caused a power outage throughout the Quinault, Amanda Park and Kalaloch areas.
A park maintenance crew left Port Angeles at 1 a.m. Monday to lend assistance to the thinly stretched staff stationed at Quinault.
Emergency access was restored by 9 a.m., allowing Public Utility District crews to begin repairs to downed and damaged wires.
Park crews will continue work today to restore two traffic lanes from Highway 101 to Finley Creek Bridge.
The bridge over Finley Creek was severely damaged last week. Park crews hope to begin repairs on the bridge today.
Quinault South Shore Road has been cleared and is passable. Debris remains along the road shoulders and the road surface is rough — caution is advised.
The North Fork Road at Quinault was damaged by flooding and remains closed.
The North Fork Campground access road has been completely washed out.
The Graves Creek Road remains closed.
Dosewallips, Staircase and Queets Roads remain closed due to previous damage and unsafe conditions.
East of Port Angeles, Deer Park Road within the park is closed for the season.
Other areas open
The 18-mile road between Port Angeles and Hurricane Ridge is undamaged, but is closed as a small crew begins snow removal. (See related story today, Page A8.)
About 15 inches of snow fell over the weekend, and more snow is expected.
All other park areas are open.
“Visitors are urged to use caution when traveling through the park and to come prepared for a variety of weather conditions, including high winds, heavy surf and heavy rain which are forecast for later this week,” park officials said in a statement.
For current road information, phone the Olympic National Park recorded road and weather information line at 360-565-3131.
