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Southwestern Washington will get up to $50 million to match anticipated federal grants for protecting flood-prone areas, now that Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed the plan into law.

The money will help pay for construction of a yet-to-be-determined final plan from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect Interstate 5 and the towns near the highway from floods in Lewis County.

Gregoire also has signed another measure that will help prevent flooding by authorizing the sale of state bonds to pay for flood projects in the Chehalis River basin.

I-5 was closed for days during floods that swept through Lewis and Thurston counties in December. Three major floods have occurred in the Chehalis River Basin during the past 15 years.