FORKS — Residents of an estimated six houses have been cut off by a washout on Dowans Creek Road about 10 miles south of Forks.
The road was washed out on Friday by excessive rain, said Monte Reinders, Jefferson County engineer.
The road, in Jefferson County near the western Clallam County line, is near the Bogachiel River, and cannot be repaired until the slide stops, Reinders said.
“We are working on an emergency bypass and hope to regain vehicle access by the end of the week,” Reinders said.
Some of the residents had already parked a vehicle outside the slide area before it became impassable, he said.
“Some of them have been walking a mile or so to the slide, then walking to where their vehicle is parked — or some have two cars and have one on either side of the slide,” Reinders said.
The crew worked throughout Saturday, but a few inches of snow which fell Sunday kept them away Sunday and Monday, he said.
“We also have to deal with the Bogachiel [River] on one side and very steep slopes on the other in order to get through this,” Reinders said.
“There is a whole 40 or 50 feet where the road used to be, but is now just clay which is very treacherous.”
Although Reinders hopes to restore vehicle access through an emergency bypass by the end of the week, there is no guarantee, he said.
“The whole area is really unstable,” he said.
