7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015
Wild Northwest weather eases drought worries
North Coast
is mostly in
‘cleanup mode’
Associated Press
and The Daily Astorian
Fierce Northwest storms
that sent rivers bursting from
their banks, closed roadways
and produced a rare tornado
have had one positive effect
— easing summer drought con-
cerns that prompted cities to ac-
tive water shortage plans.
The storms that killed at
least two people in Oregon this
week were easing a bit, but
forecasters said mudslide dan-
ger on the saturated hills would
remain high through the week-
end.
A rain-soaked hillside col-
lapsed Wednesday north of
Portland, on the main highway
connecting Washington and
Oregon, stranding thousands of
motorists on Interstate 5. Road
closures in both states frustrat-
ed drivers who were trying to
navigate alternate routes taking
them hours out of their way.
Two lanes were back open
by Thursday night and of¿-
cials said they hoped to have all
three reopened by late Sunday.
North Coast
The North Coast was under
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
A car drives by high water along Highway 202 near the Youngs River Thursday evening.
High water shut down parts of the highway for several hours. Neighbors are bracing for
more high water tomorrow.
a Àood warning until today,
then under a Àood advisory
from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday,
according to the National
Weather Service. As of 8 a.m.
today, there had been 3. inch-
es of rain in Astoria since Tues-
day.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
on Thursday declared a state
of emergency in Clatsop, Tilla-
mook and 11 other counties be-
cause of a severe winter storm,
including high winds, Àooding
and landslides.
“The emergency declara-
tion ensures state resources,
emergency response personnel,
and equipment can be activat-
ed to respond to communities
in need if their local resources
are exhausted,” Brown said.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee de-
clared a statewide emergency
Wednesday.
Because of the heavy rains
and Àooding, Jewell School
and Neah-Kah-Nie School Dis-
trict remained closed today.
Access to Jewell is restrict-
ed because of intermittent
Àooding on Oregon +ighway
southeast of Astoria at
high tide, along with landslides
that have closed +wy. be-
tween Jewell and Birkenfeld
and Oregon +ighway 13
north of the junction with U.S.
+ighway .
Clatsop County Public
Works Director Michael Sum-
mers said travelers will see
high water on other county
roads during high tides over
the weekend.
The high water will im-
pact parts of Perkins Road and
Dolphin Road in Warrenton
and Lounsberry Lane south
of Warrenton. McCormick
Gardens Road in Gearhart and
Tweedle Road off +ighway
13 will also be affected.
“We are working to keep
the signs up to date on the high
water,” Summers said. “Then,
we will move into more of a
cleanup mode, moving all of
the debris off the road.”
The Oregon Department
of Transportation has also es-
tablished a snow zone on OR
between Copperage and
Swede roads, asking motorists
to carry chains or traction tires
regardless of conditions. An-
other snow zone has been es-
tablished on Oregon +ighway
south of Clatskanie.
As of this morning, U.S.
east of the junction with Ore-
gon +ighway 53 was still re-
stricted to two lanes because of
reported erosion. There were
also brief delays on U.S. +igh-
way 3 near Rainier because
of erosion.
U.S. +ighway 11 at
Wheeler will remain closed
through the weekend. The
roadway sunk too much to
allow vehicle traf¿c, the trans-
portation department said.
The road has been closed
since Tuesday, when extreme-
ly heavy rainfall caused nu-
merous slides and Àooding
throughout the area.
While the road will eventu-
ally need to be rebuilt as part
of a larger emergency project,
the transportation department
is hoping to construct a tempo-
rary repair that would allow at
least one lane of traf¿c to open
by early next week.
Since many county roads
were also damaged by the re-
cent storms, there is no easy
detour for travelers to go from
Wheeler to Tillamook. The al-
ternative route is to take OR 53
from Wheeler to U.S. , east
on U.S. to OR and then
west on OR .
In Raymond, Wash., Àood-
ing from the Willapa River
blocked parts of U.S +ighway
11 Thursday afternoon, cut-
ting off the major north-south
route through in Raymond,
according to Paci¿c County
Emergency Management.
More storms are coming,
but nothing as strong as ear-
lier this week. Steady rain of
the usual winter variety is ex-
pected in Oregon and Wash-
ington over the next few days.
The major storms have shifted
south into California.
Stranded: ‘It was terrifying. I had to crawl out the window ...’
Continued from Page 1A
“When we hit it, the car immedi-
ately died, we started Àoating to
the left,” Steadman said.
The Taurus was dragged by
water into the parking lot of the
Dennis’ Dees Landscaping
Garden Center and the vehicle
began taking in water.
“I called 911 and we said,
‘The water is ¿lling up the car
so fast. My aunt is 1, she just
had knee surgery,’” Steadman
said. “They wanted to know
where we were. They wanted
us to call a tow truck. We were
in danger for our lives. I felt
hysterical by then.”
Seaside Police Chief Dave
+am said this morning the
women called at about 8 p.m.
and said they were going
through high water. The callers
said they wanted a tow from
AAA.
From the dispatcher’s per-
spective, +am said, they ask
callers to call AAA directly.
The dispatcher said he could
send a different tow truck, but
it wouldn’t be AAA. +e told
the women to call back if they
needed other resources.
“The dispatcher basically
said, ‘Yeah, call AAA directly,’’
+am said. “Then they the fam-
ily) said ‘OK.’”
Even as water was ¿lling
the car, Keno tried to call a tow
truck, which did not respond.
Freezing water was up to
their waists. “It was terrifying, I
had to crawl out the window and
get out the roof,” Steadman said.
The car was still moving
and tipping, she said.
“I literally had to try and
open the door, then the water
rushed in. We’re talking freez-
ing water,’ Steadman said. “It
was already ¿lled up to our
seats.”
Finally able to get out of the
passenger side, Steadman got
in feet of rushing water to try
to free her aunt.
While freeing Keno, Stead-
man banged her knee against
debris Àoating in the Àood wa-
ters. They pressed themselves
against the closed building to
try to stay dry.
Meanwhile,
Steadman
said, police, sheriff and Ore-
gon Department of Transpor-
tation vehicles were passing
nearby through the water. No
one heard their screams, she
said, and no one made any
contact.
“I knew we had to get to
high ground,” Steadman said.
“The water was splashing us
on us, the waves were up to the
building on the ramp. My aunt
couldn’t climb up the walls, I
couldn’t pick her up.
They continued to try to sig-
nal to of¿cials, who continued
to drive by.
“Two huge ODOT trucks
went by, then an ambulance,”
Steadman said. “Nobody is en-
gaging. It was two hours. Our
¿ngers weren’t moving. We
were lit up because of the light
from the store.”
Keno was hysterical at this
point and trying to walk back
to her car through the water,
Steadman said. “We were hy-
pothermic. They sat there and
watched us.”
Finally, Steadman said, an
of¿cial — she is not certain
what department — came over
and offered them a ride to Sea-
side. She said she was frustrated
that, despite their condition, the
of¿cial dropped them off not at
the hospital, but at Safeway.
“+e said to us, ‘I don’t have
time for this, you’re going to
have to get a ride.”
“We had to call a cab to get
back to Astoria,” Steadman
said.
The next day, Steadman
and Keno were treated for hy-
pothermia and post-traumatic
stress. Steadman said she is
having back spasms, along with
the knee injury.
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