Authorities in Northwest Oregon ordered the evacuation of several thousand people in a flood-ravaged county just south of Portland. Officials with Clackamas County issued the Level 3 (Go Now!) evacuation notice as a major river in the region spilled its banks.
A Level 3 evacuation notice is the highest and most urgent level used by many U.S. emergency management agencies.
The Clackamas River — only a few miles south of Portland — rose by nearly 12 feet in Estacada, Oregon, in under 16 hours Thursday afternoon into the early morning hours of Friday. The river level soared from minor to major flood stage in less than five hours…