Heavy Rains Cause Landslides on Highways Across Oregon

ODOT has been clearing logs and water and patching sinkholes.

Landslide on Oregon Highway 52. (ODOT / Flickr)
By Elise Herron

Drive over any bridge in Portland right now and you'll notice the Willamette River raging much nearer your vehicle than usual.

Related: Swelling Willamette and Columbia Rivers Could Flood Parts of Portland This Weekend

Heavy rain in the northwest part of Oregon has caused the Columbia and Willamette Rivers to swell, and in some places the downpour has led to landslides that shut down highways.

The Oregon Department of Transportation says its crews have been busy clearing debris from roads near Eugene, Corvallis, Bandon and in Eastern Oregon.

Tweets from the agency show massive logs being scraped from roads with trucks, water covering multiple highway lanes and huge chunks of asphalt disappeared into sinkholes at various highways around the state.

In the Columbia River Gorge, rockslides caused by changing weather and scorched landscapes have also led to the closure of the Wahkeena-Multnomah loop trail at Multnomah Falls.

Related: Rockslide That Shut Down Multnomah Falls Hiking Trail Caused by Weather Changes and Scorched Landscape

Oregon travelers headed toward more water-logged places can check for updates on highway closures here.

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