Trooper Paul Rushton throws a rope to Sheriff's Deputy John Ensley as they rescue Marvin Beams from his riverside home, which was flooded above its foundation as the Chetco River rose. The Pilot/Jef Hatch

Eighty-six-year-old Guy Barnes walked carefully across his living room Friday. 

Water squished underfoot with each step in the park model house he shares with wife Verena Diehl, 88, just a stone’s throw from the Chetco River.

Outside, water rose hip deep a day earlier against the AtRivers Edge RV Resort home and flowed inside, ruining the carpeting that must now be replaced.

 “We don’t need this crap,” Diehl said while sitting on a couch. “My poor cats are crazy.”

Humans and critters alike suffered through the angry winter storm that blew in late Tuesday and dumped nearly a month’s worth of rain in less than three days.

South Coast residents got a reprieve from wind and rain Friday, but another blast is expected to roll through the area Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. That will be followed by more hard rain on Tuesday, said meteorologist Jay Stockton of Medford.

“You’ve got two more big dumps coming,” he said.

Local officials will keep an eye on river levels.

“My guys will continue to monitor and we’ll do what is appropriate,” Curry County Sheriff John Bishop said.

Rainfall readings at the Brookings Airport showed 8.92 inches fell Wednesday, Thursday and into mid-afternoon Friday – with all but an inch of that coming in 48 hours. January’s average rainfall here is 11.28 inches.       

The situation caused Curry County commissioners to schedule a special meeting Monday at 1 p.m. in the courthouse annex in Gold Beach to discuss whether to declare a local emergency in the county. That would allow them to ask Gov. Kitzhauber to declare Curry County a disaster area eligible for funding.

In the Brookings-Harbor area, the AtRivers Edge RV Resort was one of the hardest hit areas. Resident David Lentz moved possessions into his car Thursday afternoon in case the Chetco River flooded and he had to evacuate.

“I’ve lived here a long time and never saw it rise this fast and so high,” he said.

Another resident at the resort, Megan Guy, woke late Thursday morning to see her fifth-wheel vehicle surrounded by water.

At 11 a.m. Thursday, an elderly couple was rescued from their North Bank Chetco River Road home after the house became surrounded by water from the flooded Chetco River.

Oregon State Troopers Jeff Johnson and Paul Rushton, with help from Brookings resident Jim Cross, used an aluminum fishing boat to reach Marvin Beams and Dolores Baker. They were uninjured.  

The storm even stopped some of the area’s toughest  people from pursuing their livelihood. The Port of Brookings Harbor boat basin was nearly deserted Friday morning as crab fishermen waited for safer weather before going back to work.

Waves rose to 35 feet during the height of the storm.

“I haven’t seen one like that with so much wind and rain in about four years,” said Dach Curry, a crew member of the My Girl.

Nearby, John “Bear” Reece helped some friends with their gear while the Miss Phyllis crew waited for the weather to change. He looked at the sky, shrugged, and said of crabbing, “If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.”

By Friday evening, the major road problem in Curry County was near the intersection of Cape Ferrelo Road and Carpenterville Road. A section of the Carpenterville Road was completely washed away, making passage impossible.

Reconstruction by Oregon Department of Transportation crew members was to begin today or Sunday.

Bishop said Friday evening that the stretch of Highway 101 near Cape Sebastian remained “a nasty spot.” A 12-inch diameter tree fell across the roadway there about 3:45 p.m. but was soon removed.

Bishop urged motorists to drive cautiously through the area due to possible mudslides and downed trees.

He estimated the storm caused $200,000 damage to roads in the county, although an exact figure won’t be available for a few days.

“I don’t know of any significant structure damage,” Bishop said

Curry County Roadmaster Dan Crumley said Friday afternoon that rivers had receded enough to open roads that had been temporarily closed. That included the Sixes River Road, Pistol River Loop Road, North Bank Pistol River Road, North Bank Rogue River Road and Floras Creek Road.

Laurie Heinrich spent Thursday afternoon packing dishes in case she and her husband, Wesley, had to evacuate their home at 98468 North Bank Chetco River Road, a little more than two miles upriver.

She said water had risen to the steps leading down from their deck and she hoped it would not be a replay of 1964 flooding when 18 inches of water covered the interior of their home.

The couple had been visiting their son in Grizzly Flats, Calif., but returned to Brookings-Harbor on Tuesday because their son said fishing conditions would be good Sunday.

Water covered Hunter Creek Road just south of Gold Beach all day Thursday, with only motorists driving vehicles with high clearance able to get through.

Elsewhere, Gold Beach City Administrator Jodie Fritts said a homeowner on Riley Creek Way reported seeing “a sea of mud heading down the hill” Thursday night.

She said a “huge” amount of material came down the hill and city crews were out with a backhoe and dump truck until 9 p.m. trying to clear the road.

“Sandbags were deployed to divert the water and debris from homes,” Fritts said. 

About 2,500 Curry County residents temporarily lost power during the storm, said Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative Marketing and Member Services Manager Christine Stallard. Most of the outages occurred in the northern part of the county.

The Oregon Department of Transportation reported that Oregon Highway 38 in Coos County was closed Thursday to all traffic between Reedsport and Scottsburg because of a sinkhole. The road, often used by Curry County residents to reach Interstate 5, was reopened Friday afternoon.