PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — With the National Weather Service’s Portland office issuing a Flash Flood Watch weather alert as severe weather potentially looms for the region on Saturday, geological experts are warning landslides may happen this weekend for portions of the Oregon Cascades.
A Flash Flood Watch is in effect from Saturday afternoon through late Sunday night and includes the Cascades of Lane County, Cascades of Marion and Linn Counties and the North Oregon Cascades, according to the NWS.
TIMELINE: Saturday’s severe storm around the Pacific Northwest
Not only is heavy rainfall expected in the region, but it could result in landslides and debris flows in steep terrain areas as well as recently burned wildfire areas, according to the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI).
“Debris flows are rapidly moving, extremely destructive landslides. They can contain boulders and logs transported in a fast-moving soil and water slurry down steep hillsides and through narrow canyons. They can easily travel a mile or more,” officials at DOGAMI said in a release. “A debris flow moves faster than a person can run. People, structures, and roads located below steep slopes in canyons and near the mouths of canyons may be at serious risk.”