By Monday afternoon, the unrelenting rains had transformed Johnson Creek into a roaring chocolate-brown torrent and Logan realized his "home" was in serious trouble.

The 55-year-old homeless man frantically dug a foot-deep trench around his tent, which he'd put up on the bank of Johnson Creek not far from Southeast 82nd Avenue. He also tied the top of his tent to the Douglas Fir that towered over his site. He secured his other belongs the best he could, including a new box of food, into two grocery carts.

"I figured I had an hour," said Logan, who declined to give his last name. "I went to the service center to get a meal. When I got back, only the tent was left. I saw my food box floating away."

For most Oregonians, the intense weather of the last two days was little more than an annoyance -- snarled commutes, clogged downspouts, flooded streets. For Multnomah County's 16,000 homeless, particularly the estimated 75 who camp along Johnson Creek, the record rainfall and floodwaters offered a double-shot of misery. The lucky ones squeezed into shelters, which quickly filled to capacity. Others got soaked, stayed soaked and watched their few worldly possessions swept away.

"You get so wet, it seems like you just can't dry out until the spring," said Mike Davis, a pastor and advocate for the area's homeless. "Once you get wet, you tend to get sick, if you're not sick already. It changes you mentally."

As the ranks of the homeless grow, several dozen have chosen to live along Johnson Creek adjacent between Southeast 80th Avenue and Interstate 205. The stream is chronically susceptible to flooding. But with few other places to go, the greenway is better than many alternatives.

Except for days like Monday and Tuesday when the Johnson Creek floodplain is inundated.

Senya, a 23-year-old homeless woman, points to a spot underneath the Southeast 82nd Avenue bridge over Johnson Creek. A homeless couple lived there, until Monday. Now, it's underwater.

It's been a busy couple days for the nearby Clackamas Service Center. The center offers food and donated clothes and bedding to the homeless. The center typically remains open at night as a warming center only during freezing temperatures. It kept its doors open Monday and Tuesday night, despite the relatively balmy temperatures, simply because of the drenching rains.

"We quickly filled to capacity -- 30 people," said Rob Shryock, the center's client support coordinator. The staff got an earful from homeless people whose stash of personal belongings had vanished in the deluge.

"It's fairly common story here," Shryock said. "We had people coming in wet t-shirts saying they'd lost everything."

On Tuesday morning, as a few sunrays peeked through the clouds, Logan surveyed what remained of his camp. The creek, while still roaring, had receded back to its normal channel. The reek of diesel fuel that had come Monday with first onset of the flood was gone. A handful of tents lay in sodden heaps. Logan's still hung from the tree.

Logan is well-spoken and obviously intelligent. He loves the natural setting, stopping in mid-sentence to point out the flock of Canada geese descending on the wetland created by the flood. "I'm telling people Johnson Creek is getting its annual, natural cleansing," he said.

With more rain in the forecast, Logan says he'll likely be moving away from the Johnson Creek site, he doesn't know where. He says he's been homeless for three years, since he got out of prison. He doesn't see that changing.

"I lost my way, I guess," he says. "It happened when I got into drugs."

The Clackamas Service Center is in need of clothing, shoes, bedding, sleeping bags, tents, tarps and other goods. For more information call 503-771-7914 or go to http://www.cscoregon.org/#!aboutus/c3sz

-- Jeff Manning

503-294-7606, jmanning@oregonian.com