Coast Guard Rescues Hundreds During Northwest Flooding (VIDEO)

The most recent case involved the rescue of a pregnant woman near Pacific City, Wash., by a rescue helicopter crew homeported out of Air Station Port Angeles, Wash.

A mother holds her children in the safe confines of a Coast Guard helicopter as Petty Officer 2nd Class Travis Vanzandt looks on during the Northwest flood incident in Washington state. Photo courtesy: Petty Officer 2nd Class Mariana O'leary

(PORTLAND, Ore. ) - The Coast Guard, along with state and federal agencies, worked continuously to provide assistance to communities in the Pacific Northwest affected by the recent flooding.

Coast Guard operations began Monday in Tillamook, Ore., Pe Ell, Wash., and Belfair, Wash., where Coast Guard units assisted in the rescue of at least 128 people, five dogs and one cat.

The Coast Guard has responded with two HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews from Air Station Astoria, in Warrenton, Ore., three HH-65C Dolphin helicopter crews from Air Station Port Angeles, Wash., two HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews from Air Station North Bend, two HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews from Air Station San Francisco, one HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station San Diego, and a C-130 from Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, Calif.

Five Coast Guard response boats and nine crews from Maritime Safety and Security Team 91101 from Seattle and San Diego are deployed to assist as needed.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard's Department of Homeland Security partner, is actively engaged with supporting the Coast Guard's response communications.

"We're working closely with the Washington State Emergency Operations Center and the Oregon State Joint Operations Center, and we're providing Coast Guard forces as requested by the two state entities," said Capt. David Klipp, Coast Guard Chief of Incident Management. "Right now our two biggest search-and-rescue efforts are in the Chehalis region in Washington and the Nehalem river region in Oregon near Tillamook."

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"If you're in trouble, or know someone that's in trouble, call 911 or your local emergency services," added Klipp. "They will pass that information to the state, which has access to federal resources, so we can respond as soon as possible."

Rescue operations will continue.

The Coast Guard has reached out to more than 500 volunteers through the regional network known as the Citizen's Action Network to assist in identifying mariners or persons in distress, pollution incidents occurring from the floods and aids to navigation discrepancies.

No serious spill events have been reported, however, it is expected that spills from oil storage tanks, industrial sites and individual vehicles will cause minor spills throughout the affected region. The Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, along with other state agencies, will have response personnel available to monitor the situation.

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