Body of child swept away found in Oregon creek

A monster Pacific Northwest storm coated parts of Washington with freezing rain on Thursday after claiming its first life — a child whose body was pulled from an Oregon creek where a car was swept away from a grocery store parking lot.

Another child and a man were rescued Wednesday evening, but rescuers searched Thursday for another adult missing in the creek in the Willamette Valley community of Albany, Ore., about 70 miles south of Portland, Ore., said fire department spokeswoman Wanda Omdahl.

The child who escaped was taken to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland.

Omdahl said she didn't know the age or gender of either child.

Rising water from recent heavy rains swelled Periwinkle Creek and carried the car from the parking lot of Mega Foods about 7 p.m. Wednesday. "We had a ton of rain," Omdahl said. "I haven't seen that creek like that since '96."

"The water just got high so fast," she said. "It's a big tragedy."

People across the Northwest confronted icy roads, power outages and the dangers of flooding from melting snow Thursday after the windy winter storm dropped more than a foot of snow in some places, causing school closures, knocking out electricity to thousands and leaving hundreds of accidents in its wake.

In Washington, ice closed Seattle's Sea-Tac Airport Thursday morning. Spokeswoman Charla Skaggs told KOMO Radio airlines would likely cancel flights because taxiways remain a problem even as runways are deiced.
Source:Yahoo