Oregon/Washington Flooding
HRQ
2,849 Posts
Anyone hear from Paul? There's some serious flooding going on in his area, and he hasn't been active on the Forum. Cannon Beach is right smack in the middle of the blue (flooded) areas on The Weather Channel's website.
Comments
I'm so sorry, I really didn't intend for that to be a bad pun.#-o
He's probably stranded in a boat house, rummaging through waste cans for discarded fish parts.
On a serious note, I'm sending positive thoughts his way. I'm sure he's fine, but probably has no power, and he, his wife, and his girls are eating all the ice cream before it melts.
I don't know if Cannon Beach has all the power resored or if Paul's power was even off.
The main highway between Portland and Seattle is closed until Friday because of 8-10 feet of water of the road in one spot. This is a major closure as long haul truckers and cars are being re-routed which makes a 3 hour drive a 7 hour drive.
Makes the mind boggle!
Seriously, I was not expecting him for a day or so, but I would have though we would have heard from him by now. It is tough to be without electricity for days. If there is no gas things are even worse (think small scale Katrina). I hope they are all ok.
Nae
I have visions of Paul on a homemade stationary bicycle, trying to generate his own battery power somehow, like the Professor on Gilligan's Island. He's also wearing palm fronds and coconut half-shells for clothing.
Knowing him, he probably ditched the wifi thingie and is helping his neighbors or whoever else is affected.
We used to have an .88 cent store. It is gone.
California. It is closed down for 20 miles until later this weekend. Truckers are not happy.
Apparently Cannon Beach is still having problems also.
([url]http://www.tdn.com/slide_show/flood2007/index.html[/url])
Everyone here is fine. Sunday night and Monday morning were a little scary as the 100 mph winds blasted the coast and took out trees everywhere. My main concern were the large trees that surround our home including a mammoth tree that I am pretty sure would cut our house in half if it were to fall in our direction. Fortunately for us, all of our trees were left standing.
Truth be told, most of you knew more about what was happening in Oregon and Washington than I did. We were totally cut off for a couple days. No phone, internet, or cell phones. All roads were either flooded or covered with trees and down power lines.
I'll post a blow by blow later but I need to update our website and respond to some critical e-mails. Suffice to say I got a big grin from this thread. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. There are a lot of folks who are much worse off than us right now. This was a truly devestating storm. For my family, we were merely inconvenienced.
Paul in What is left of Cannon Beach
Take good care of the others in your area, and come back to us when you can.
Cheryl
So glad to hear you are all well. Is this an annual event in Cannon Beach? I looked through the archieves and on Dec. 15, 06 your community was also in the news due to storms.
Keep the faith and hug your family a little tighter.
We look forward to your return...
Friday - we first started hearing about the storm coming. 100 mph winds. We picked up a couple extra lanterns expecting power would go out.
Saturday - the storm was actually two storms right in a row. The first one was a cold front that brought snow to the area. I took my girls up to where the snow was heavy enough for playing in about 20 minutes from my house.
Sun am - the second storm begins coming in. This was a wind storm that brought rain and powerful wind gusts. We had "home church" instead of making the uncertain 15 minute drive. By afternoon we had lost power. The roads were clear still so we drove to my sister in laws house 15 min away who had power. We returned after dinner when power had come back on.
Mon am - didnt sleep much. Wind gusts howled like a freight train. My concern was a massive tree that is situated on a slope above our home. If it were to fall on us it would probably flatten whatever (and whoever) in its path.
As the storm died down Monday we took inventory of our situation: no power, no land phone, no cell phone, no internet. All roads out of Cannon Beach were either flooded or had trees or power lines over the roads. We were essentially isolated.
More later..
Thurs - felt like a normal day in that we had our normal department and managers meetings. The big discussion was whether to cancel a weekend conference and a review of how we handled the storm and outage. Still no power.
Friday - bad news today. The power company is telling us that our problems here are very serious and power may not be restored for several more days. Still, we are in good shape here and our biggest problems are merely inconveniences compared to what others are dealing with across Oregon and Washington.
This has been an interesting week. I am trying not to covet my neighbor's generator. Its been encouraging to see our community come together in countless ways. Radio stations were relevant again. Our local AM station played a critical role in communicating needed information when all other forms of communication were down.
Many are saying this could be the worst storm in Oregon history, eclipsing the infamous "Columbus Day" storm in 1962. For many, without a doubt, this has been a difficult week. Even after power is restored, our landscape has been changed and will not look the same for years.
Along Hwy 26 which connects us with Portland, the forests are gone. A coworker was telling me "the trees are all down." I replied, "Do you mean the trees by the road?" She said "No, ALL the trees are down. All of them. Entire forests are upended as if some massive giant hand pushed them all over like toothpicks."
More later...
I'm glad you have lots of people you can rely on, and who can rely on you, up there.
Oh by the way Paul, the half-coconuts aren't supposed to be worn like ear muffs. They go somewhere else.
Got to run. These coconut shells are starting to chafe.
You know, of all times for a community to really come together, maybe this time of year is the best. Seems like Christmas would be an awful time to suffer a disaster, but really, it will bring you and your family and friends closer together and put the focus on togetherness rather than gifting.
My daughter said she still wants a Nintendo.
I am so glad you, your wife and the girls are doing as well as can be expected with all the storms coming through. I can relate to what you are going through because I lived 6 years in the Biloxi - Ocean Springs, MS area and we would have this happen every year; some worse than others from hurricanes. I said no more and moved home. My first year home in Arkansas we had one of the worst ice storms in years and were without power for over a week, huge oak trees were broken down or uprooted either from the wind or the weight of the ice. That year it happened right before Christmas. Mother and I were preparing dinner for the entire family and no-one was able to come to eat dinner due to the weather.
Families and neighbors do all pull together and camp out with one another forming new bonds and building memories to be discussed years later. Tell the girls they are now building their own Kid Nation in Cannon Beach and since you missed it last week the council voted to close the arcade down for good.
God, Family, and friends are the really important things. Well maybe some soft fluffy velour fabric for lining the coconut shells would help with the chafing. But love each other, hug each other and know all of us are thinking and praying for you.
And the same to all the rest of you too!!
I was dissapointed to read that Pres Bush has only released $1 million for immediate flood and storm repairs. $1 million wont go very far when you consider we have roads and bridges that were damaged not to mention hundreds of homes that were under water.
I think I need to contact my local congressman and encourage them to do more for those who were hardest hit. If any of you want to join me, that would be wonderful.