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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2016)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2016 Storm: Plenty of weekend events were canceled Continued from Page 1A Major cancellations The Great Columbia Cross- ing slated for Sunday was canceled. The event organizers made the decision after talking with the Oregon Department of Transportation and law enforcement. With irst responders and medical personnel having to attend to emergencies around the area Saturday night and Sunday morning, they might be unavailable to help at the 10K run/walk over the Asto- ria Bridge. “It would be unwise and unsafe for us to continue with- out adequate stafing for traf- ic control, security, medical response,” Kelsey Balensifer said in a release. “Additionally, we are aware that many of our par- ticipants are traveling consid- erable distances to participate in our event, even while possi- bly facing dangerous road and weather conditions. We do not want anyone to risk their safety for the sake of our event — it’s simply not worth it,” she said. Organizers plan to try to reschedule the Great Columbia Crossing for later this year and will contact all entrants with the news. “We apologize for any inconvenience or hardship this has caused,” Balensifer said. “We hope you will be able to join us on the bridge again in the future, under bet- ter circumstances.” The inal Astoria Sunday Market of the year was also canceled, along all high school football games, state parks, Lewis and Clark National His- torical Park, Astor Street Opry Company and Coaster Theater productions, Clatsop Commu- nity College, Cannon Beach Dog Show on the Beach and many other businesses and events. Coastal football games were rescheduled for tonight, including Seaside’s homecom- ing game against Tillamook. Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Storm debris is seen here on Friday, in Manzanita. More photos from this weekend’s storms online at DailyAstorian.com A park visitor braces himself against the wind from atop a viewing deck overlooking the South Jetty of the Columbia River on Saturday at Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond. Waves crash against the South Jetty of the Columbia River on Saturday at Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond. Typhoon Songda The storm carried the rem- nants of Typhoon Songda, which wreaked havoc in the western Paciic days ago. It closely followed a separate storm that on Friday brought a tornado to Manzanita (see related story); injured a 4-year- old boy and his father when a tree branch fell in West Seat- tle; and prompted the Coast Guard and other emergency oficials near Port Angeles, Washington, to make several boat trips across a lake to res- cue 40 teenagers and six adults who became stranded at an outdoor recreation camp after they lost power and downed trees blocked their way out. The tornado destroyed two businesses and rendered one home uninhabitable, but no injuries were reported. Another twister was conirmed near Oceanside but it caused no damage. What happened to the big blow? Here are some questions and answers about the storm that was originally forecast to be one of the worst in recent history. What was predicted? The storm was a remnant of Typhoon Songda, which had Storm debris is seen here on Friday in Manzanita. Why wasn’t it so intense? Park visitors take photos from atop a viewing deck overlooking the South Jetty of the Columbia River as a storm rolls in on Saturday at Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond. wreaked havoc in the west- ern Paciic last week. Heavy rains and strong winds were expected when it hit land on Saturday. Oficials estimated 80 mph wind gusts in some regions as the storm moved up the Oregon coast early Saturday and even- tually into Washington later that day. Residents were warned to keep off the roads, while parks and zoos were closed to help keep people inside. What was the damage? The 50-mph wind squalls were big enough to down power lines and toss tree branches onto streets and vehi- cles, particularly closer to the coast where winds were the strongest. At one point, tens of thou- sands of residents were left without electricity. A spokes- man for the Portland Bureau of Transportation told The Oregonian that the agency received more than 200 calls on Saturday about fallen trees, looding and other issues. No injuries have been immediately reported. A tor- nado brought on by a separate storm Friday hurt a 4-year-old boy and his father in Oregon when it dropped a tree branch on them in Seattle. The storm brought heavy rain and wind as far south as Northern California. The National Weather Service attributed the weak- er-than-predicted winds to the storm ending up with two pressure centers when it approached the Oregon coastline. Meteorologists thought it would only have one. This helped break up the intensity. However, the subdued nature of the storm still has meteorologists puzzled. In a statement released late Sat- urday, the weather service said it would be studying the storm over the next few weeks to help better their forecast models. “(When) a forecast does not work out as expected, it is frustrating as a forecaster. Weather science and model forecasts are getting bet- ter every day, but this is just another reminder that Mother Nature will always keep a certain level of unpredict- ability,” the weather agency wrote. In the future It wasn’t hard to ind peo- ple joking on social media about the storm’s lackluster performance. Several memes had already popped up Satur- day and some Twitter users in Portland joked that they were just thankful they could still go to the farmer’s market. But the National Weather Service says that doesn’t mean people should stop believing storm warnings. “It’s good to be prepared for any storm. Following warnings is just good advice,” said Jay Nehler, a meteorol- ogist in Seattle. “Sometimes forecasts are right and some- times they’re not — doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to them.” Tornado: A second twister was reported in Oceanside Continued from Page 1A On Manzanita Avenue, contractor Mark Whitten was busy clearing wood. He’d been working since right after the tornado. “Just takin’ down a tree,” Whitten said. “Then I’ll start taking down more trees.” Steve Feltz, whose home was undamaged, said the tor- nado angled through town in a narrow swath. “It didn’t come up straight up Laneda,” Feltz said “It looks like it came from the southwest to the northeast. It surprises me there’s not more damage to the houses.” Starlight Frost of Manza- nita News and Espresso said she was at her home near Highway 53 early Friday R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Damage along Laneda Avenue on Sunday. morning when “bright pink lightning lit up the sky.” She received a call from the barista on duty that “a small tornado just hit Manzanita.” “From here, this seemed small to her,” Frost said Sun- day morning at the cafe, located at 500 Laneda. “The funnel went right on the other side of the building.” At Manzanita Sweets and Toylandia, “no one was in the building luckily,” Mark Eck- strom, whose mother owns the store, said. “I was at my house over in Pine Ridge when I got the tornado warning. Then I heard that it came to Manza- nita and I came down to check on things.” Eckstrom spent the week- end trying to clean up and boarding windows at the shop and for neighbors. Have you ever seen any- thing like this here? “Not really,” Eckstrom said. “You don’t really expect a tornado to come down in the middle of Manzanita.” Gordon McCraw, the director of Tillamook County Emergency Management, said Monday morning that the cleanup continues. McCraw said 128 struc- tures were damaged, from minor to severe. Four struc- tures — two residences and two businesses — are too dan- gerous to enter. All but 44 res- idents had power by Saturday afternoon. “(The public utilities department) planted a lot of poles really quick and con- nected the wires to get the electricity restored,” McCraw said. “Those guys are rock stars.” The tornado came on shore to the south of Laneda Avenue and headed northwest cross- ing Laneda and other streets, before dissipating prior to striking U.S. Highway 101. McCraw said the National Weather Service calculated that it was an EF2 tornado and was on the ground for sev- en-tenths of a mile. The tor- nado scale extends from zero to 5, and an EF2 classiication describes a tornado that can cause considerable damage. A second tornado was reported in Oceanside. “The remarkable thing is being one of the stronger tornados to strike Oregon in recent history and for the dis- tance it traveled, we had no deaths and no reported inju- ries,” he said. Lyra Fontaine contributed to this report.
