A record 3.96 inches of rain deluged Astoria Wednesday, and there are fears of more flooding even when the rain stops.

The rainfall was well above the record of 2.15 inches set in 1983. A total of 8.25 inches has fallen here since 2009 began.

Forecasts called for the rain along the North Coast to taper off this morning. The flood watch was lifted at 9:40 a.m. There were slight chances of rain this evening. But a cold front was expected to lower the snow levels in the mountains, reducing the amount of snowmelt adding to swollen rivers.

But the sun might even shine Friday.

The two biggest problems on the North Coast were U.S. Highway 101 south of Seaside which was closed by the Oregon Department of Transportation Wednesday afternoon to all but high-profile rigs and Oregon Highway 103 which was swamped today as the Nehalem River broke its banks, causing Jewell leaders to cancel school.

A flood warning issued by the National Weather Service remains in effect for the Nehalem near Foss until 2 a.m. Saturday. The river was expected to crest at nearly 21 feet early today. It is expected to fall below flood stage (14 feet) late Friday evening.

At 20 feet, flooding of some buildings in Nehalem is feared, with the situation worsening during high tides. Residents can also expect lowland flooding and numerous flooded rural roads.

Problems similar to the serious flooding in 1996 is expected by some longtime officials.

The rain caused disruption in North Oregon and Southwest Washington. Seaside, Jewell, Clatskanie, Neah-Kah-Nie and Naselle, Wash., school leaders canceled classes; Wahkiakum started late.

On the Long Beach Peninsula, the road between Chinook and Ilwaco, Wash., either side of the Chinook River was awash in places Wednesday afternoon as the river level rose. The deep drainage ditches either side of the highway were almost up to their banks.

Clatsop County Public Works Operations Manager Mike Agalzoff said his county had a few “trouble spots” overnight along its roads.

Crews worked to clear Westport Ferry Road of water until 1 a.m., when it became passable, he said. The road had been closed on the Oregon side of the river and the Washington side. The ferry had stopped service, but restarted it this morning.

“We’re busy – nothing here like across the river,” Agalzoff said. “They were very appreciative that we did what we did at Westport. It gave them egress if other roads had closed.”

Gene Strong, the county’s Emergency Operations Coordinator, had called in Oregon Department of Forestry prison-inmate work crews to fill sandbags. County inmates filled sandbags at the county’s Jewell shop.

Crews also worked until 1 a.m. on a mudslide that had closed Hamlet Road, getting one lane opened.

Agalzoff warned that there’s still water on roads in spots.

While there were no serious problems reported in Cannon Beach, two areas in Seaside were posted, warning people to stay clear of the water on the roads. Groundwater running into manholes at the intersections of Shore Terrace and Wahanna Road and Grove and Avenue U caused sewage to bubble up and spill down the creek near Wahanna or collect on the streets at Avenue U.

Seaside Public Works Director Neal Wallace said the city’s pumps are working 24/7 to keep up with the minor flooding in the affected areas. As soon as the rain abates and the tides recede, crews will clean up the areas where sewage may have overflowed, Wallace said. Soils and drinking water weren’t contaminated, he said.

Seaside School District schools were closed today because of high water on Highway 101, said Superintendent Doug Dougherty.

“At 5 this morning we were informed by ODOT that the flooding was 20 inches above Highway 101 and rising,” he said. “We just went out there again, and the current is very strong and high tide is at 9 o’clock. If the ODOT official is saying 20 inches and rising, we’re very concerned.”

Dougherty said the school buildings are fine. “We have custodians out there right now,” he said. “A couple of the buildings have leaks, but any time we have strong winds, there are a few places that start to leak a little bit.”

With forecasts predicting drier weather, Dougherty said he expected the schools would be open Friday.

Because of the fears for more problems, Clatsop County initiated a low-level activation of its Emergency Center .

The center at the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office will be staffed around the clock to handle calls and coordinate responses by local agencies should the need arise. For assistance during non-business hours, call (503) 325-8645.

The county is making sandbags available to the public at its Public Works shop at 1100 Olney Ave., in Astoria, as well as at county substations in Jewell and Knappa and at the Elsie-Vinemaple fire station. City residents can also check with their local public works departments.

Trees were falling on local roads Wednesday as the storm pounded the North Coast. The wind roared in Wednesday night and blew apart a storage shed at the Warrenton Boat Basin.

The various emergency logs revealed problems around the region.

On Wednesday morning, a tree was blocking the westbound lane of U.S. Highway 30, a half mile east of Astoria. At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, a landslide that blocked the entire road was reported on Hamlet Road. At 6 p.m. a landslide was blocking one lane of Oregon Highway 202, about a mile east of Astoria city limits. At 8:03 p.m. Wednesday, a tree fell across the road on Oregon Highway 105 near the old Youngs Bay Bridge. There was a tree across the road on U.S. Highway 26 in Elsie.

At 11:39 a.m., residents of a home on the 92300 block of G Road reported their basement was flooding and asked the Lewis and Clark Fire Department for assistance. At 6:49 p.m., water was covering Youngs River Road about three miles from Miles Crossing. At 7:50 p.m., a residence on Southeast Second Street in Warrenton had sewage coming up through the toilets.

At 10:38 p.m., a break in a water pipe on 10th Street in Astoria was reported. And alarms were going off all day and night in Astoria and Warrenton signaling that sewage lift-stations were receiving excessive stormwater.

ODOT urged motorists not to drive through high water on roadways. Most deaths in floods occur in vehicles, and just one foot of flowing water is enough to sweep a vehicle off the road.

The Oregon Department of Forestry Wednesday began mobilizing to assist counties on the northwestern coast of Oregon with emergency resources as a massive winter storm began.

Forestry personnel from the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Astoria District were deployed earlier this week to check the status of roads and culverts within the Clatsop State Forest for potential hazards. Staff members from ODF’s Tillamook, Astoria and Columbia City offices coordinated with county emergency management offices as well during the hours leading to the storm’s arrival.

On Wednesday, the ODF received a request from Clatsop County to provide emergency assistance with sandbagging Plympton Creek Road near Westport. A 10-person crew from the South Fork Forest Camp has been deployed for emergencies. This emergency scene is in the vicinity of an abandoned rail fill that collapsed on De. 11, 2007, launching a mudslide that blocked U.S. Highway 30 for several days.

The Tillamook Forest Center on Oregon Highway 6 closed Wednesday because of concerns about the rising level of the Wilson River adjacent to the educational center.

Landowners with forest property are the first line of detection and prevention of landslides. Forest landowners are encouraged to monitor their property for signs of forest road collapses, land slumps or water pooling behind blocked culverts. If landowners feel they cannot adequately respond to a potential hazard on their land, they are encouraged to contact their local ODF office or their county emergency management office for assistance.

The wet climate and rugged terrain found throughout western Oregon means that many areas are prone to landslides.

Unfortunately, many people are unaware of their exposure to these potential landslide risks. Especially in Oregon’s urban/rural interface areas, the live in the path of potential landslides. Additional information about the geology of Oregon’s regions is available from the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI).

Geotechnical staff with ODF are continuing to assess landslide hazards in forested land, and protect public safety in areas where timber harvest may affect drainage and road maintenance in forest areas. Administrative rule authority for ODF regarding landslides in forest areas is specific to shallow, rapidly-moving landslides within forestland where forest management operations occur.

Reporters Nancy McCarthy and Sandra Swain contributed to this story.