Flood Damage at Access Point

Excessive precipitation Thursday, October 8 and Friday, October 9 caused record flooding at the La Russell Access Point. The USGS water gage (at La Russell) indicated the river went from 2.18' @ 10:45am Oct. 8, to 14.62', cresting @ 12:00pm (noon) October 9. Newspaper reports in the area described precipitation amounts, ranging from 3 inches to 10.5 inches. [click on graph for close-up view]

To put this high water event in perspective, the USGS calculated the water (discharge) flow rate (a La Russell Access Point) on October 8, 2009, 10:45am was 249 cubic feet per second. 24 hours later, the flow rate was 13,500+ cubic feet per second.


Damage at the site includes major erosion. The parking and road gravel was all washed in a southwest direction from the bridge. Erosion pattern was identical to site damage during the March 18-20, 2008 flood.