OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - All lanes of Interstate 5 near Chehalis, the main route between Seattle and Portland are closed because of major flooding in Western Washington.

According to Paula Hammond with the State Department of Transportation, the closure could last at least 36 hours, although she added that the length of the closure was tough to predict.

Here's what part of I-5 looked like Tuesday:

Hammond noted that in 1996, the last time the freeway was shut down completely due to flooding in the area, it was closed for about four days.

Viewers of our sister station in Seattle, KOMO, sent in these photos of I-5 in Chehalis.

The first is a picture near exit 76 from Kimberly Schwiesow:

It appears the photo was taken before the interstate was closed.

And here is one sent in from Karen Monroe looking south on I-5 near exit 77 in Chehalis:

KATU's Dan Tilken went as far north as he could on I-5 Tuesday before he came to a blockade guarded by National Guard troops at the SR 12 exit. That is 70 miles north of Portland. Click here for a map of the area.

Here's a picture of him at the blockade:

From there you can take SR 12 east all the way to Yakima - but that is a very windy and long route on a two-lane mountain pass road.

Instead Washington transportation officials were advising northbound motorists to head east on I-84, north on I-82 to Tri-Cities and Ellensburg and then west on I-90 to Seattle.

You can't take a train to Seattle either. Amtrak said northbound trains between Portland and Vancouver B.C. won't be operating again on Wednesday due to extreme weather conditions. Click here for the latest Amtrak updates.