Wooh, boy .... the photo of the airplanes fighting for the dry ground reminds me of the floods of 1996. I was living in the 'Couve at the time and working in Kalama at a chemical plant (yes, that's the one you see driving by on I-5 that looks like a chemical plant).
The Columbia came very close to paying us a unexpected visit. We were sandbagging along the riverfront, and had it risen about 6" more, we would have flooded, with some bad consequences. Lots of Woodland, WA were underwater, including Woodland State airportl
I worked some CAP comm missions in the 96 floods, mostly support for ANG flying patrol along levees in the Portland area. Now that was crazy.
TODR