Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2011)
8 community october25 2011 A Tale of Two Houses continued from front page home “I was starting to get panicky,” says Camrin. Camrin talked with husband Brandon and several friends by phone, and then took another walk to look at the river. “I saw that the river was crossing the highway and slowly moving towards us,” says Camrin. She realized it was time to evacuate and now she was scared. She and the kids gathered four cats, two dogs, a rabbit, goldfish and hermit crabs and Juniper Street days after the December 3, 2007 flood, after standing water grabbed duffles of clothes, was finally pumped out. sleeping bags, computers who was very pregnant wearing her rubber boots and and piled in the car. The road south towards town rain jacket and looking at all the cleaning supplies, in was blocked by water and an Oregon State Trooper; shock as well,” remembers Camrin. “ And I said, ‘Are Camrin’s plan was to head north and loop around on you from Vernonia?,’ and she said yes and then we both Stoney Point Road and head to her friend Stacey Adams just started crying and hugging. I didn’t know this lady house outside of town on Keasey Road. “We found out but later I found out it was Becky Carlton who had only later from neighbors who stayed that just five minutes moved into their new home on Heather Lane two streets after we left the fence in our backyard just burst open over from us a couple days before the flood. They had with water that it was holding back,” said Camrin. just moved their baby stuff in and were expecting any South on Highway 47 at Biggs Road the day and they were having to deal with all the flood stuff highway was covered with flowing water; on the too. My neighbor, Ginger Westlake had rescued their opposite side was another State Trooper stopping dog.” traffic from heading towards Vernonia. Camrin then did something she knows she shouldn’t have done— she drove her minivan through what turned out to be almost three feet of flowing water. “At one point the van started to float, and then we hit solid ground again and made it through,” says Camrin. “I could see Trooper shaking his head the whole time, but HUD OWNED Property for Sale the I just didn’t know what else to do.” The route on Stoney Point took the family up $27,500 to higher ground and away from the river. They 1290 N Mist Dr, Vernonia made it to the Adams home safely. Stacey’s 2 BD, 1 bath, approx. 1058 sq. ft. husband Larry was out of town as well, and Cute interior, needs to be raised. Stacey was at home with her three kids, so the Try 203k loan. The money to raise the house and two families stayed together that night, as the sales price in one loan! power went out in Vernonia and the rain finally (this loan for owner occupants only) slowed. community for several years. Camrin was very active in the community—she is a Girl Scout leader, President of the PTA and is also a small business owner. Her store, The Clever Cricket, features educational toys for children. For Camrin the ranch house on Juniper Street was her dream house—they paid $245,000 for the 1900 square foot house with a perfect floor plan, including a huge pantry off the kitchen—one of several highlights for Camrin. “It was already painted all the colors I would have chosen—it was perfect!,” said Camrin during a recent conversation when she revisited the flood and recovery. On Monday December 3, 2007, the Eyrrick family got up and started their day like any other day. Brandon headed off to work in North Plains twenty- five miles away; Camrin helped seven year old Kaitlyn and ten year old Jacob get ready for school. Driving to school Camrin noticed the Nehalem River was especially high after unusually hard rain over the past several days but didn’t really think much about it. It turned out school had been canceled, another indicator that something unusual was happening. Camrin, Jacob and Kaitlyn went back to their home, south of town, just across Highway 47 from the Nehalem River. “I talked to several neighbors; some thought it could flood and were starting to prepare, others thought that was an overreaction.” remembers Camrin. She did some laundry and other household chores, “Just stuff I would normally do,” and then decided to load the kids and take a drive around town—check on her store in downtown Vernonia and see what the river looked like. The Nehalem was continuing to rise so Camrin and the kids spent some time moving items to higher shelves at The Clever Cricket just be safe and then headed back Seller will consider ALL OFFERS! *** *** The flood waters receded and drained away overnight and most people were able to get started the next day cleaning up. The Eyrrick’s faced several unusual problems. Brandon Eyrrick was stranded in North Plains and was unable to reach his family for several days. Drainage tiles on Juniper Street had been damaged in the flood of 1996 and had never been replaced; water continued to stay pooled around the Eyrrick home. The ranch house sits in a punchbowl of Carriage House Real Estate hard packed river clay the home was surrounded with almost six feet of water; the house had 503-739-3500 at least four feet of water inside. As the first 503-987-1411 days of recovery were taking shape, the Eyrrick home remained inundated with chest high flood water. Camrin pleaded for someone e d s W to help her figure out a way i toc e v t o r n k to get the water out of her p rne ba ow w e tte home. no Int r e i L e On Thursday the W DS s Eyrrick family reunited with Brandon in Hillsboro— the family went to Target to shop for clothes and the supplies they would need for an extended stay away from INTERNET SERVICES home and the impending •Computer Servicing clean up. Dressed in • New & Used Computers in stock sweats and tall rubber boots • Upgrades & Repairs • Cell Phone Service & Accessories Camrin stood in the cleaning • Office Supplies • Color Copies & Printing Available supplies aisle in shock, not • Media Transfers • Notary Services even knowing where to start • Ink and Toner Refills • Internet - DSL, Wireless & Dial up and what she would need to buy. “I noticed a woman, 866 Bridge Street, Vernonia 503.429.TECH aga s COMPUTER & Brandon Eyrrick, who is over six feet tall, stands outside his Juniper Street home; notice the high water line on the wall under the light fixture. That same evening the family went to dinner at Red Robin with friends and relatives where the staff overheard them talking about the flood; the Red Robin management bought their dinner and the waitstaff all pitched in and bought them a gift card to Target. On Friday the Vernonia Rural Fire Department was able to pump water out of the Juniper Street bowl and lower the water level. Friends, neighbors and volunteers arrived to begin mucking out the house and started the process of stripping the walls away to allow the house to start to dry out. “Total strangers came and helped; my mother-in-law was moved to tears by a couple that came out from Portland and didn’t even know us,” said Camrin. The Eyrricks did not have flood insurance on their home. Like many Vernonia residents, they believed the 1996 flood had been an anomaly and would not be seen again in their lifetime. The interior of the house was a complete loss, the family lost everything, including all the Christmas presents that Camrin had purchased early because she was expecting to be running her toy store during what she had hoped would continued on page 9
