Floodwaters Still Menace Western Washington

(CNN) -- Crews began assessing damage Monday in western Washington, as officials kept a watchful eye on rising river levels and forecasters continued to predict more flooding for the area.

About 300 people are staying in shelters after homes flooded in several cities north of Seattle, said Rob Harper an emergency management spokesman for Washington. He said they evacuated voluntarily.

"Swift-water teams were called out Sunday," Harper said. "Rescue operations are still being mobilized to be available if needed."

Other residents were fighting back against the swollen rivers, rapidly filling sandbags to secure river banks.

Monday morning, the National Weather Service was reporting major flooding on the Snoqualmie River at Carnation and moderate flooding on the Snohomish River at Monroe and Snohomish, with major flooding expected over the next 48 hours.

Flooding also was occurring or was predicted for areas along the Green, Nooksack, Skagit, Skokomish and Chehalis rivers, according to the weather service's Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service.

The Stillaguamish River, which Sunday evening rose to a record level at Arlington, had receded to just above flood stage Monday morning and will continue to drop, the prediction service said.

The rain that led to the flooding also triggered mudslides that shut down passenger trains north and south of Seattle over the weekend.

Rivers in nine counties had crested at or above flood stage by Sunday morning, the state Emergency Operations Center reported. And a mudslide north of Vancouver, Washington, just across the state line from Portland, Oregon, shut down Amtrak's Cascades train route until Tuesday morning, Amtrak said.

"They have to make sure where the mudslide occurred or anywhere else along that track, that the slope is stable enough to where there will not be any chances of an additional mudslide occurring before they release passenger traffic back onto the track," said Washington Department of Transportation spokeswoman Vickie Sheehan.

Mudslides occurred north of Seattle as well, shutting down train service that connected the city to Canada, Sheehan said. But shutting down the Portland-to-Seattle run has "a much bigger impact that affects a lot more people," she said.

Amtrak will provide bus service for all ticketed passengers throughout the weekend and until the rail line reopens, Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said.