October 17.2012______________________________
^Jortlatth ÛDbgerüer
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Alberta
North Portland
Page II
County
Beaverton
MIL **
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A Port Orford Cedar planted in the late 1890s in front o f Portland City Hall is taken down by the 19 62 Columbus Day Storm. The Oregon Historical Society is marking
the 50th anniversary o f Oregon’s m ost disastrous weather event in modern history with a special exhibit that runs through Jan. 6.
The Mightiest Wind
Power lines were down on virtually every street after the
Columbus Day storm o f 1962. A new Oregon Historical
Society exhibit takes you back in time to recreate the destruc
tion with photographs, film footage, and interviews from the
many Oregonians who still remember the event.
A car is left in ruins after a pile o f bricks and other building
materials collapsed from the top o f nearby structure during
the hurricane force winds o f the Columbus Day Storm, 50
years ago this month.
Exhibit marks
50th anniversary
of Columbus
Day Storm
The 50th anniversary o f the most di
sastrous weather event to hit Oregon, the
Columbus Day Storm is being commemo
rated with "The Mightiest Wind," a new
exhibit at the Oregon History Center,
downtown.
On Oct. 12,1962, hurricane-force wind
gusts reached 116 miles per hour in
Portland, 127 miles per hour in Corvallis,
and in excess o f 145 miles per hour on the
Oregon coast. Nearly 50 fatalities were
attributed to the storm, more than any
other Pacific Northwest weather event
in modem history. The storm forced
portions of Oregon to rebuild their power
systems from the ground up; many loca
tions went without power for several
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