■ Oregon National Guard troops rescued 21 people from floodwaters.

62-year-old missing; waters begin to recede

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon National Guard troops aboard two helicopters airlifted 21 people to safety on Saturday, and authorities reported a 62-year-old woman who lived in one of the areas hit by floods was missing.

Waters covering roads in flood-hit northeastern Oregon were starting to recede Saturday, allowing residents who spent the night in shelters to return and assess the damage, a Red Cross official said.

Further north in Washington state, flood warnings have been lifted for the Snohomish River near Monroe, Issaquah Creek and the Carbon River near Fairfax, KOMO-TV reported. However, many roads in King, Snohomish, Pierce, Thurston and Lewis counties remain closed by landslides, flooding and fallen trees.

Thousands of Puget Sound Energy customers lost power as a cold front moved through western Washington Friday evening.

Residents in the foothills of the Blue Mountains in northeast Oregon had to be airlifted by from their flooded homes by helicopter and even were taken out in a front-end loader as rain and melting snow caused rivers to crest their banks. Lower-income neighborhoods in Pendleton, a town of 16,000, were hit, damaging mobile homes, authorities said.

“A total of 16 people were evacuated from the Bingham Road area. Five people were evacuated from the Mill Creek area,” the Umatilla Flood Joint Information Center said in a statement. More evacuations are planned for Sunday, the center said.

Seventeen evacuees spent Friday night at the Red Cross shelter in the Pendleton Convention Center, and numerous people dropped off blankets, pillows and other comfort items, said Nadine McCrindle, the Red Cross executive director for central and eastern Oregon. Another eight people stayed at a shelter in Walla Walla, Washington.

The Umatilla County Sheriff ’s Office said Saturday night that it is searching for a woman who went missing near Bar M Ranch, which has had flooding in recent days.

Janet Tobkin Conley, 62, was last seen about 7 p.m. Thursday in the Bar M Ranch area, the sheriff ’s office said.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency in Umatilla, Wallowa and Union counties late Friday.

Ben Lonergan The Associated Press Nate Fuller and Archie Morrow await rescue on the roof of a home Thursday in Thorn Hollow outside of Adams, Ore.