Help is on the way to Nile Valley

NACHES, Wash. -- Construction crews began building a temporary route through the Nile Valley on Tuesday, while other workers started removing debris that's clogged the flow of Naches River since Sunday's landslide.

Meanwhile, Gov. Chris Gregoire declared an emergency because of the damage to State Route 410 and surrounding area.

The proclamation means the state will pay to construct the temporary route around the landslide and rechannel the Naches River. A cost estimate hasn't been determined.

Officials say the detour along Nile Road, which is now under water in places, might be finished by week's end.

The road work includes digging up the roadbed, raising it and installing new culverts, said Mike Westbay, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

The project essentially will raise the road above flood water, officials said.

More than two dozen houses were damaged by flooding caused when the landslide forced the Naches River to find a new channel. On Tuesday crews started removing some material to widen that channel. It's unclear when the rechanneling work will be complete.

To also help reduce flooding, the federal Bureau of Reclamation began reducing the flow from Bumping Lake Dam to the Naches River.

The landslide buried and lifted a quarter-mile of SR 410, destroyed two homes and damaged at least three others. With SR 410 impassable, officials say their priority is restoring road access to residents who are now cut off from the Yakima side.

Transportation officials also reduced the closure points of SR 410, so only four miles of the highway are closed. The closure is from the Nile Road intersection before the Woodshed Restaurant at milepost 108 to milepost 104, Westbay said.

Only residents and construction crews are allowed access through Nile Road. Residents can also use other Forest Service roads to leave the area for food and supplies, said Jim Hall, director of the Yakima Valley Office of Emergency Management.

"Most people up there prepare quite well -- it's a remote area," he added. "Some only come to town once a week, every other week. They carry a lot of supplies over."

Transportation officials have met regularly with residents above and below the landslide to update them on recovery work.

* Melissa Sánchez can be reached at 509-577-7675 or msanchez@yakimaherald.com.

* To get information or receive e-mails about the landslide and closure of State Route 410 go to the state Department of Transportation's web site: www.wsdot.wa.gov

For a recorded message with current conditions, call the closure hotline at 509-577-1635.