Willamette Valley flood of 1996

The floods were directly responsible for eight deaths in Oregon, as well as over US$500 million in property damage throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The combination of the additional rain, the saturated ground, and the melting snow packs engorged dozens of streams and tributaries, which in turn flooded into the region's major rivers.

[2] The river came within inches of flowing over its seawall and flooding a large portion of Portland's downtown Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

A major sandbagging effort involving civilians as well as the Oregon National Guard was launched throughout downtown Portland and was maintained until the floodwaters began to recede on February 9.

[2] The downtown areas of Oregon City and Tillamook suffered particularly heavy damage from the floods, and both were submerged for several days.