PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Gov. Ted Kulongoski declared a state of emergency because of flooding and wind damage Monday, which will allow the state to provide aid to stricken counties without them having to ask for it.
The declaration is statewide, spokeswoman Patty Wentz said, adding that it will help get aid to where it is needed faster.
She said Clatsop County already has asked and been granted permission to use facilities at Camp Rilea south of Astoria for displaced persons and other flood-related emergencies.
Power remains out along much of the north coast and many highways are blocked by high water or landslides and communications are spotty.
Reports of displaced persons increased Monday night.
Red Cross volunteer Peter Williamson said from a shelter opened at Clatskanie High School that a trailer park at Sweedetown, an unincorporated area near Astoria, was completely flooded and estimated that 30 to 40 people were evacuated.
He said others are trapped in their homes and cannot be reached because of flooding but that they have food and water.
The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for seven coastal rivers, and two inland ones.
The state Department of Transportation warned drivers to avoid the Coast Range, where downed trees, rocks and mud slides and high water closed roads.
"This storm is hitting the coast so hard, it's not leaving any road open," said spokeswoman Christine Miles. U.S. 101 along the coast also was closed in places.
Qwest said customers in Astoria, Seaside and Warrenton were unable to make long-distance calls, and those towns as well as Cannon Beach and Westport were without 9-1-1 service.
Abby Kershaw of Oregon Emergency Management said communications are so bad it is not certain how many people have been evacuated.
The Red Cross opened shelters at Clatskanie, St. Helens, Vernonia and the Tillamook County fairgrounds. Volunteers said they expect increasing numbers to arrive as flood and road conditions improve.
"The ground is saturated from intensive rainfall and trees are leaning into power lines and dropping to the ground," Pacific Power said in a statement.
Early in the afternoon, it reported 40,000 homes without power, and said it could be days before power is fully restored.
Pacific Power said its crews had to cut their way into Clatsop County through downed trees. It said 100-foot transmission poles were downed.
The Daily Astorian had no power to run its presses Monday afternoon. Only in 1922, it said, when a fire destroyed downtown Astoria, had it missed an edition. It used Internet equipment at its sister paper in Pendleton to keep its Web site going and will print next at the Statesman Journal in Salem.
Inland, Amtrak suspended service between Eugene and Vancouver, British Columbia.
The twin storm systems fell most heavily on the north coast. The Coast Guard station in Astoria lost communication with its command center and launched a C-130 Hercules plane from Sacramento, Calif., to patrol the northern coast and handle distress calls.
The Coast Guard closed the Columbia River bar at Cape Disappointment as well as the bars at Tillamook Bay in Oregon and Grays Harbor in Washington.
Tillamook County Sheriff Todd Anderson said officials evacuated some motel occupants and recreational vehicles from two parks.
There were frequent coastal gusts of up to 80 mph Monday, said Steve Todd, meteorologist in charge at the service's Portland office. The highest was recorded at 129 mph at Bay City.
The state's geology agency warned of fast-moving mudslides that can follow severe rain, urging people to avoid steep landscapes, stream channels, the bases of hillsides or road cuts.
Forecasters said the twin storms Sunday and Monday were of about equal magnitude but that weather is supposed to improve in the coming days.
The high winds snapped the 206-foot Sitka spruce that shared honors for the nation's largest near Seaside.
Paul Ries of the Oregon Department of Forestry said the 700-year-old spruce had been damaged a year ago. "The tree will now die," he said. "It's a sad event, but not unexpected. It's part of the natural cycle of the tree."
Most state offices were closed along the coast as were many schools. The driver's license and employment offices in Columbia County flooded.
Amateur radio operators were trying to help with communications.
On the south coast, winds were gusting to 80 mph, knocking down trees, but most roads remained open, said Deputy Kim Wood of Curry County.
Still, "we're telling everybody to stay home if they can," she said.
Inland, there were heavy snows Sunday in the Cascade Range, but the snowfall was expected to begin melting Monday, possibly causing Willamette Valley flooding.
Also inland, Tualatin fire officials said 23 people and a dog were evacuated as water backing up from a culvert threatened to flood 16 homes.
Portland General Electric said it had made progress in restoring power, but about 1,500 customers in Washington and Yamhill counties remained without power late Monday afternoon.
High water closed some Portland streets.
In Eastern Oregon, a 150-mile stretch of Interstate 84 that closed for several hours Sunday reopened late in the day. Authorities warned of "loose objects and downed large tree limbs and powerlines. Those venturing outdoors should use extreme caution and be alert for flying debris."
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AP staffer Typh Tucker in Portland contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
