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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2016)
welcome/city news from the editor january7 2016 Winter certainly arrived with authority this year causing disruptions in power, travel and holiday planning. Those disruptions meant a lot of extra work for city, county and utility workers throughout the region. After last year’s mild winter, the angry and rude arrival of the season came as a bit of a shock. I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and thank all the public and utility employees who worked so hard and put in extra long hours to get our power restored, to keep our streets and roads safe and passable, and keep everything operational through the several weather incidents during a crazy month of December that concluded 2015. The beautiful sunshine and clear skies that appeared during the New Year holiday weekend, followed by more snow, icy rain and dangerous driving conditions may have helped some of us forget the weather condi- tions that antagonized us in December. But still, it was a rough stretch, start- ing December 8-9 when heavy and per- sistent rains caused regional flooding, land slides, closed roads, and power outages throughout the region. Local city workers spent extra time planning for and fighting the elements, clearing storm drains and helping residents with sandbags to protect against damages. Past mitigation efforts successfully pro- tected many homes and properties from the water in areas of Vernonia prone to flooding. High water and mudslides did make travel difficult and continuing rain meant a trip out of Vernonia required a check on road conditions and closures. A mudslide on Interstate 5 forced a traf- fic detour through Longview and onto Highway 30, causing delays of several hours for regular commuters. County and state road crews battled the ele- ments to keep trouble spots clear of de- bris as approximately 14 inches of rain fell between December 5 and December 13. The Scappoose-Vernonia Highway was a particularly troublesome spot and slides blocked and damaged the road in the same spot several times. Those slides also caused electricity outages for many local customers as well. Just when things were getting back to normal a powerful windstorm swept through the region on Decem- ber 11 knocking down limbs and en- tire trees, shutting down power and once again closing road ways to travel. WOEC workers, along with outside crews of linemen spent the next week, The following report was prepared by Vernonia city staff, including Ben Fousek of the Planning Department, and presented to the Vernonia City Council at their January 4, 2016 meeting by City Administrator Josette Mitchell. The report summarizes the damage and assesses the City’s response to the storm that hit the region on December 8-9, 2015. On December 8, 2015 the Vernonia area experienced moderate flooding. The City responded along with assistance from state and county emergency agencies. Due to mitigation efforts following the Decmber 2007 flood, damage was relatively moderate. Flood water inundation was minimal. This flood event saw higher water levels in Bear Creek, affecting the downtown area. Ponding in low lying areas, along with poor storm water control led to the majority of the affected homes and businesses. Much of the personal property damage and loss was the result of homeowners storing property in flood and ponding prone areas. City Administrator Mitchell, Police Chief Mike Conner, and Fire Chief Dean Smith initiated the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) on December 8 th , 2015 at approximately 8:30pm. The City of Vernonia was commended by the County Emergency Christian Aid Ministries helped with debris removal. Management on their and volunteers. Her professionalism and quick response and thorough handling of thoroughness throughout the event was the event and recovery. vital. City Public Works staff worked Kristina McCord performed through the night to barricade impassable logistical management of EOC roads and maintain production of city operations, tracking members outreach water. During the event the reservoirs and duty assignments. Her constant were full and staff continued to make attention to the coming and going of drinkable water throughout the flood operations was essential to maintain event. Public Works staff is to be safety of crews and volunteers. She is to commended for their excellent service be recognized for her service during the throughout the event. event. Iwalani Leininger from the Following the event City staff Vernonia Police Department worked coordinated damage assessment teams diligently to complete required to track data that was used to inform the information forms, track volunteers, and Governor of the storm’s effect on the maintain communication between EOC community. Initial damage assessments working to restore power to local resi- dents as the Christmas holiday was fast approaching. Just to keep things inter- esting, and miserable for the workers out there, another 6 inches of rain fell during the week between December 17 and December 23. And then, once again, just as things were returning to normal, some cold weather and Christmas snow ar- rived on the morning of December 24, just in time to foul up last minute shop- ping trips and holiday travel plans. Road crews were out once again to clear roads and a brief power outage in Vernonia left locals wondering if it was going to be a white, but dark, Christmas. Fortunately our local city work- ers, county road crews, and WOEC workers got the job done and for the most part everyone was warm, safe, dry and happy on December 25. Thank you once again to all the workers who spent extra time on the job, away from family and friends, deal- ing with the weather and all the issues it provided this December. Your efforts do not go unnoticed and are very much appreciated. 3 Publisher and Managing Editor Scott Laird 503-367-0098 scott@vernoniasvoice.com Contributors Britt Bensen Steele Dr. Carol McIntyre Aaron Miller Paul Pastor Photography Jessika Goodman Scott Laird Want to advertise? Have an article? Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com One year subscriptions (24 issues) $35 Vernonia’s Voice is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month. Scott Laird Editor and Publisher Vernonia’s Voice, LLC PO Box 55 Vernonia, OR 97064 503-367-0098 December 8, 2015 Storm Report www.VernoniasVoice.com showed most damage occurred in outbuildings and garages, rather than living spaces of homes. City staff notified property owners of the process by which debris would be removed and coordinated with Waste Management to organize containers to accept debris and use of transfer station. The City was fortunate to have Christian Aid Ministries assist the Public Works Department in collecting and removing debris on December 16 th , 2015. Without the support of Christian Aid Ministries’ service the debris removal would have been a multiple day event, instead it was completed in one day. Citizens were asked to segregate hazardous waste away from debris. City staff coordinated with Columbia County Solid Waste to have a hazardous continued on page 5 FULL SPORTS PACKAGE! 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