7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2018
Steve Helber/AP Photo
A Coast Guard helicopter crew prepares to hoist a group of stranded residents from their flooded homes in Burgaw, N.C.
Coast Guard: ‘The flooding is so expansive’
Continued from Page 1A
and scheduled for the patrol starting 6 a.m.
Tuesday.
Their patrol area extended over 150
miles north to south from Elizabeth City
to Wilmington, North Carolina. They also
covered areas that extend as far as 50 miles
east to the coast. The flat terrain has height-
ened the effects of the flooding.
“Part of the issue is the flooding is so
expansive and covers such a large amount
of area,” Hale said.
Two pilots, a flight mechanic and a res-
cue swimmer occupied an MH-60T Jay-
hawk helicopter during the patrol. While
weather is no longer an issue for pilots,
unfamiliar structure heights and heavy air
traffic are. Some structures reach hundreds
of feet high, and sifting through radio traf-
fic can be complicated.
“Flying, the pilots have to keep their
heads on a swivel,” said Jason Frayne, a
flight mechanic.
This is the first time anyone on the crew
has responded to a major disaster.
“It was definitely very challenging
conditions to fly over,” said Lt. Patrick
Wright, a safety pilot along with Lt. Der-
rick Rockey. “The widespread devastation
was not something you can really prepare
for.”
At one point, the crew received word
that 30 people were trapped without water,
electricity or cellphone capabilities. Stand-
ing on a dry patch surrounded by exten-
sive areas of isolated flooding, the peo-
ple on the ground waved white towels to
grab the crew’s attention. With help from a
National Guard helicopter, the crew picked
them up and took them to a shelter estab-
lished inside a mall.
Perhaps the most striking moment for
them came when they rescued an infant
boy and his parents from their house. Three
of the four crew members have children.
“They were cut off from the world.
Being able to rescue him and his family
was awesome,” Frayne said.
Convincing the parents to leave their
house wasn’t easy, though.
“It took, kind of, a parent-to-parent and
heart-to-heart conversation,” Frayne said.
But eventually the family was con-
vinced to seek safer shelter. On the heli-
copter ride, despite the chaos around him
and below him, the baby fell asleep.
“The little guy, he didn’t know what
was going on,” Hale said. “A house is a
house, but a home is your family.”
Coast Guard
Flood damage from Hurricane Florence can be seen from a Coast Guard helicopter.
‘IT WAS DEFINITELY
VERY CHALLENGING CONDITIONS
TO FLY OVER. THE WIDESPREAD
DEVASTATION WAS NOT SOMETHING
YOU CAN REALLY PREPARE FOR.’
Lt. Patrick Wright | a safety pilot
Steve Helber/AP Photo
Residents wave to a Coast Guard helicopter from their
flooded home in Burgaw, N.C.
Closing: Murray plans to relocate roastery inside a pole barn
Continued from Page 1A
A year before Murray and
Davis began roasting in Asto-
ria, Columbia River Coffee
Roasters started in Uniontown.
Its coffee is now commonplace
in many businesses around the
region. Astoria Coffee Co. has
eschewed the idea of growing
bigger or selling wholesale,
except to the Blue Scorcher
Bakery & Cafe.
Murray’s Probat coffee
roaster makes about 10 pounds
of beans at a time, allow-
ing him to offer upward of 30
varieties out of his store. The
small-batch mentality appeals
to Murray, who said the cus-
tomers are what have kept him
interested for the past quarter
century of roasting.
“I got to meet the whole
town,” he said. “I got to know
people. I got to watch their kids
grow up. I got to watch their
families change over time.”
Murray recently bought
a home near Knappa, where
he is planning to relocate the
roastery inside a pole barn.
He will continue offering
small batches of coffee to indi-
vidual customers out of his
home, but is also looking for
a local retail outlet such as the
Astoria Co-op Grocery to
carry his products.
Despite planning to sell the
building, Murray hasn’t enter-
tained selling the business,
knowing part of Astoria Cof-
fee Co.’s success has been his
experience roasting and the
relationships he’s formed with
customers. At 67 years old, he
said he could continue roast-
ing coffee for at least another
10 years.
“It’s really not that hard of
work,” he said. “I have to keep
my mind and my eyes together.
It’s kind of like being a black-
smith or something like that.
You get a trade, (and) you can
do it for as long as you can.”
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Rick Murray, owner of Astoria Coffee Co., is closing his storefront at 37th Street and Leif
Erikson Drive by the end of the year.