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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2019)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 | 7A Ready from A1 there,” said City Manager Richard Meyers. “If it had been a snowstorm that stayed in blizzard condi- tions for the whole week, it would have taxed our equipment, our resources and we would have needed somebody else’s help.” The Disasters The other disasters, while less severe, caused evacuations along the af- fected areas. Flooding saw historic rates of water re- leased from Dorena Res- ervoir to prevent overflow and the fire put a network of about a dozen agencies to the test, seeing at least 86 emergency personnel respond to the event. While each disaster posed its own challenges and learning moments, the snowstorm stood out most saliently as a small taste of what a truly catastrophic incident such as the Cas- cadia earthquake might bring. Though no deaths di- rectly related to the storm were reported by Peace- Health Cottage Grove Community Medical Cen- ter or emergency services, damage to the area was extensive and some resi- dents reported more than two feet of snow. Many roads outside of town were impassable, blockaded by fallen trees and barriers of snow, effectively cutting off many rural residents from in-city resources. Fuel sta- tions and grocery stores were understaffed and overwhelmed by throngs of customers stocking up. A state of emergency was declared. In a damage assessment scheduled to be submitted to the Federal Emergen- cy Management Agency (FEMA) today, the full in- dex of damage and costs estimates a $251,175 price tag. In response to the car- nage, emergency services became inundated with calls and incidents. From Monday through Thursday the week of the storm, police department data reported 44 welfare checks, 60 fire or medical calls and 10 burglary alarm responses. In all, 328 emer- gency and 875 non-emer- gency calls came in, bloat- ing the phone lines to two or three times the normal amount. Power companies, too, scrambled to respond to a high volume of inquiries and outage reports. When the sun broke on the first day, Cottage Grove was completely without power save for those with gen- erators. The city’s main electricity provider, Pacif- ic Power, reported more than 3,300 Cottage Grove customers affected by the power outages and 44,000 throughout its coverage area, though the company fully restored power by the end of the week. Grade Report Despite the seeming dis- order, city and county offi- cials remain largely pleased with Cottage Grove’s re- sponse to the disasters. Meyers felt that the city’s habit of looking ahead set it apart from other Lane County cities outside the Eugene-Springfield area. “That’s one of the rea- sons we were successful,” he said. “Let’s plan for the next thing and if we don’t need it, let’s put it away af- terwards. … That helped us a lot, that we were con- stantly thinking of that.” Though the city’s speed of plowing during the snowstorm was a source of frustration among some residents, Meyers credits the upgrading of the plow equipment last fall as eas- ing much of the strain. “If we’d had the old- er equipment it would’ve been much more difficult to have handled the situa- tion,” he said. Keeping main arteries open to traffic for basic re- sources came first and, as welfare check requests and emergency incidents began to roll in, the city also pri- oritized its plows to clear the way for emergency responders before finally getting around to smaller residential streets. At the time, South Lane County Fire and Rescue Division Chief Joe Raade spoke to The Sentinel about the district’s response. “The fire district was able to weather the storm well and is definitely pre- pared for the next time this occurs,” he said. City facilities such as wa- ter and wastewater treat- ment plants also proved to be ready for inundation. “We didn’t have any hic- cups or any issues as far as backed-up sewer lines. Our waste treatment plant functioned,” said Cottage Grove Public Works and Development Director Faye Stewart. Though, “It was touch and go. It was close to capacity.” Keeping basic operations up and running during the power outage caused by the snowstorm was instru- mental to much of the city’s ability to respond effective- ly. Generators at treatment plants and other municipal facilities passed this test. Additionally, city data had been stored electroni- cally and moved to an on- line cloud. “So, we could still go op- erate anywhere,” said Mey- ers. “Any place that had electricity we could go and run the city.” With this technology, Meyers predicted that if a large enough catastrophe struck, the city could still set up in a tent with a gen- erator. “Those kinds of things we’ve put together — we just hope we never have to use,” he said. Attendance of city staff remained high during the snowstorm as well, a char- acteristic owed to staff be- ing individually prepared enough to come to work, assured that their families were safe at home. “Virtually every one of the employees got to work in the middle of the storm and stayed here and worked with their focus on the city’s well-being,” said Stewart. “Our staff is a strength. We have seasoned employees with long tenure and are very skilled in mul- tiple areas.” During the snowstorm, the city opened a warm- ing center at the Commu- nity Center and arranged for American Red Cross stations during both the snowstorm and flooding. The city had also stocked up on bags and sand to prepare for warmer March weather after the snow. “We went ahead and brought in a couple more dump truck loads of sand EVENTS! As always no cover charge and 20 and under are welcome until 8:30 p.m. For more information call 541-942-8770. Rutsy & Primitive Treasures SUMMER VINTAGE MARKET Primitive • Vintage • Repurposed • Salvaged • Farmhouse • Garden – Good old Rusty Goodness – Aug. 16th 4pm - 8pm & Aug. 17th 9 am - 4 pm (Friday night early picking 4pm- 8pm $5.00) GREAT FOOD Shady Oaks 77380 Hwy 99 S. 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A discrepancy between impacts within city lines and in county jurisdiction was partly due to higher standards in city limits, which stipulate that hous- es in flood zones are raised two feet above base flood elevation; Lane County’s standard is just one foot. “We have a lot of things that the city has already been doing for many de- cades,” said Cottage Grove City Planner Amanda Fer- guson. Tactics to curb the threat of flooding include buying up properties with hous- ing dangerously close to rivers, effectively running treatment facilities, using ponds as flood storage ar- eas, maintaining a storm water system, street sweep- ing programs and using the city’s golf course as irriga- tion and flood storage. Ferguson, who is also the flood plain manager and community rating system (CRS) manager for the city, has used these aspects to Install, Service, and Replace Pumps and Water Filtration Systems FRIDAY AUGUST 9TH – 7:30PM – 10:30PM Jobe Woosley – Bluegrass IT’S JUNKIN’ TIME! with concerns that the snowmelt might cause some flooding,” said Stew- art. A sandbag filling site was set up and concerned citi- zens eagerly accepted the gift, a token of the city’s foresight. “As a matter of policy, we try to keep some level of material on site and avail- able,” Stewart said. Then post-disaster, the question was raised of what to do with all the natu- ral debris. In response, lot space was made for fallen branches and trees, giving an opportunity for citi- zens to help clean up their neighborhoods. A gnarled hill formed from the amount of wood hauled in before it was ground down to chips. Selling three quarters of the wood chips to a local company covered hauling costs and the rest of the chips have been left for citizens to use as needed. The city plans to use the remainder for parks and beautifying other city sites. “There were a lot of positive comments from citizens in the communi- ty who really felt that that was just a great offering the city did by giving them a place to bring their storm damage and then make the product available for them, too,” Stewart said. “It worked out really well.” A month later, the flood- ing event had comparative- ly minor impact, especially within city limits. “For the most part, we You Can Count on Us! We provide prompt and reliable, public transportation. Our experienced, courteous drivers will take you to appointments on time. Clean Burn Wood Pellets WE DELIVER ! LANDSCAPE AND BUILDING MATERIALS Open 7 days a week! 7919 N. River Road 541-942-4664 SOUTH LANE COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE SAVE MONEY. SAVE LIVES. 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