[url=http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/15959215.htm]One dead, hundreds stranded by floods
Guardsmen pressed into rescue duty as Washington governor declares state of emergency for 18 counties
By Donna Gordon Blankinship/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wed, Nov. 08, 2006[/url]

SEATTLE - Heavy rain tapered off Tuesday in western Washington after causing severe flooding that killed at least one person and stranded others who had to be rescued by police and the National Guard.

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Mount Rainier National Park measured more than 10 inches of rain in 24 hours. Stampede Pass reported an all-time record of 8.22 inches on Monday.

About 200 to 225 elk hunters were evacuated Monday from hunting camps near the Cowlitz River in southwest Washington, said Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield. A 29-year-old elk hunter died when his pickup truck was swept into the river, authorities said.

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The Skagit River did not go as high as it did during the last big flood, in 2003, but officials said the total impact, which won't be known for days, could be comparable to that year, when flooding caused $17 million in property damage in Concrete and 34,000 households were evacuated.

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