8A | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
from A1
Series
bring lower insurance
costs to Cottage Grove.
CRS is a FEMA-insti-
gated community pro-
gram that rewards local
floodplain management
activities that exceed the
minimum standards of the
National Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP).
For those in a 100-year
flood zone, such insurance
is required.
With the CRS program,
discounts are available
based on point scoring.
Entering the program at
a score of 10, each point
downward to 1 awards ev-
eryone within a jurisdic-
tion five percent off their
NFIP flood insurance pol-
icy.
“Just to come in at a 10 is
quite a hurdle,” said Fergu-
son. “We came in at a 7 last
year. We have the capacity
to go down to a 5 as soon
as our building depart-
ment has been here long
enough to get rated.”
After meeting that
three-year requirement of
the building department,
a 25 percent discount may
be available to those in the
area.
“There are all sorts of
pieces of the puzzle,” Fer-
guson said. “When we
looked at the community
rating system, we realized
we didn’t have to change
anything we were doing
and we would get a really
high rate.”
With the application ap-
proved last year, 2019 bill-
ing recipients should see a
15 percent drop in cost.
Though incentive re-
mains to further raise the
standards within Cottage
Grove floodplains, much
of the waterflow control
rests with management
of reservoirs by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
“The Coast Fork is 90
percent controlled by the
release out of Cottage
Grove Lake Reservoir,”
Ferguson said. “And the
Row River, when it hits
Cottage Grove, is about
40 percent controlled by
the release out of Dorena.”
All things considered,
Ferguson believes the city
met its disaster challenges
admirably this year.
“I think it would be an
A-minus,” she said. “No-
body’s ever perfect.”
Other city officials
echoed Ferguson’s evalu-
ation.
“I just feel like we have
a really good leadership
team here that has experi-
ence and the ability to ad-
dress critical thinking and
how to get through what’s
ahead of us,” said Stewart.
“Not only thinking about
the moment, but thinking
about, ‘What’s the future?’”
Lessons Learned
For all the high marks
reported on emergency re-
sponsiveness, city officials
admit there is always room
for improvement.
“I would say the first
place we learned we lacked
was coordination with en-
tities within our own com-
munity,” said Stewart.
Questions remain on
whether communication
could have been improved
in quality and speed with
emergency services and
the school district.
Messages to the public,
for example, sometimes
provided contrary infor-
mation or needed updat-
ing.
On the county level,
communication with the
county’s newly formed
emergency operations cen-
ter was somewhat bare.
“Maybe we didn’t com-
municate well enough
with them as they set up
their emergency com-
mand center,” Stewart said.
“They reached out midway
through the process and
asked if we needed any-
thing, but we were feeling
really comfortable about
how we were addressing
things and didn’t feel like
we needed any additional
support here.”
Winningham speculat-
ed that part of that lack of
communication was the
fact that the county’s emer-
gency operations center
had previously directed
most of its help to the sher-
iff ’s office and many were
unaware of its new capac-
ity.
“Now it’s evolving,” she
said. “The commissioners
have pulled the program
out from under the sher-
iff ’s office and made it its
own program that supports
the entire organization and
the community, too. That’s
where I came on board.”
For Stewart, having ac-
cess to the proper informa-
tion is half the battle and
more county-to-city in-
formation exchange could
prove useful.
“It’s like everything:
knowing the resources that
are out there and plugging
into them,” he said.
During a post-disas-
ter debriefing by Cottage
Grove Police Chief Scott
Shepherd, city officials also
learned of an overlooked
segment of the population.
“We have a pretty vul-
nerable population when
power is out for a while,”
Stewart said.
Refilling oxygen tanks
and getting access to med-
ication can be critical con-
cerns for some in these
conditions.
During the snowstorm’s
power outage, the Peace-
Health Cottage Grove
Community Medical Cen-
ter provided aid, food and
rest for people in the area
seeking help and oxygen.
“When we had the de-
brief, that’s another area I
think we could really help
each other,” said Stewart,
“is having a better commu-
nications system with the
hospital.”
Meanwhile, the city’s
Wi-Fi hut ran into its own
snag.
“We did discover some
weaknesses regarding fu-
eling our generators,” said
Ferguson.
Getting fuel to the city’s
Wi-Fi propane generators
during the snowstorm
was a challenge due to the
danger on the road posed
to the provider. Also, oth-
er companies refused to
touch it as they weren’t
certified.
“So, we need to diversify
our fuel source,” Ferguson
said. “And that’s a good
thing to learn.”
‘It Boils Down to the
Individual’
While the city devised
and implemented its own
disaster response, house-
holds in and out of the city
STIHL CHAIN SAW
$179.95
Proud Sponsor
for the Kids
Reading
Stock# MS 170
Program
Free Extra Chain and Horner's
Baseball Cap with purchase.
dealt with struggles of their
own. Stories of neighborly
rescues and assistance be-
gan to emerge before the
snow had stopped falling,
many coming from the ru-
ral roads where hundreds
of downed trees had cre-
ated scenes evocative of a
post-apocalyptic world.
In one case, Gene Hursh,
a Harrisburg grass seed
farmer with acreage in
the Cottage Grove area,
cruised the roads around
Dorena with his nephews,
looking for people to help.
April Klein of Sallee
Road was one of the lucky
recipients of Hursh’s kind-
ness.
“We were buried,” Klein
said. “You couldn’t even get
out of your driveway to get
to the store, to go to work,
to go into town to get water
if you needed it – nothing.”
Klein estimated about 17
to 20 people were trapped
on the road, but after flag-
ging Hursh down, “It freed
everybody,” she said. “It
was just such a nice thing.”
Hursh said he cleared
the road for “about a dozen
or more” houses all togeth-
er, working for two days to
help people as far as Pleas-
ant Hill. One family in
particular, Hursh remem-
bered, had no electricity
or even a wood heating
system.
“They were really cold,”
he said. “They were very
grateful to be able to get
out of there and get back
into town.”
For those in a rural
setting, such values of
self-sufficiency and com-
munity reliance become
exceedingly evident during
a disaster.
“I think a lot of these
Ed & Kori Sowa
Independent Owner-Operators
facebook.com/CottageGroveGroceryOutlet
SAVE 40-70%
ON GROCERIES.
BEAUTIFUL, HUH?
Dentistry is our profession, people are our focus.
Birch Avenue Dental
1325 Birch Ave.
541-942-2471
• General Dentistry
• Implants
• Sedation
• Financing
1325 Birch Ave.
Cottage Grove
birchavenuedental.com
541-942-2471
Tammy L. McClung DDS • Park W. McClung DDS
Congratulations!
to our
Residents of the Month Jack and Betty Dodson
Employee
of the Month
Nancy Hawks
For the month of July, 2019
COTTAGE GROVE:
6th & Gibbs Church of Christ
195 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3822
10:00am
Christian Education:
Pre-K through 5th
www.6thandgibbs.com
First Presbyterian Church
3rd and Adams St
541-942-4479
Rev.: Karen Hill
Worship: 10:00am
Sunday School: 10:00am
fpcgrove.com
Calvary Baptist Church
77873 S 6th St • 541-942-4290
Pastor: Riley Hendricks
Sunday School: 9:45am
Worship: 11:00am
The Journey: Sunday 5:00pm
Praying Thru Life: Wednesday 6:00pm
Hope Fellowship
United Pentecostal Church
100 S. Gateway Blvd.
541-942-2061
Pastor: Dave Bragg
Worship: 11:00am Sunday
Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday
www.hopefellowshipupc.com
“FINDING HOPE IN YOUR LIFE”
Cottage Grove Faith Center
33761 Row River Rd.
541-942-4851
Lead Pastor: Kevin Pruett
www.cg4.tv
Full Childrenʼs Ministry available
Services: 9:00am & 10:45am
Delight Valley
Church of Christ
33087 Saginaw Rd. East
541-942-7711 • Pastor: Bob Friend
Two Services:
9am - Classic in the Chapel
10:30am - Contemporary in the
Auditorium
Dentistry is our profession, people are our focus.
Birch Avenue Dental
See PREP 11A
Worship
Directory
Cottage Grove Bible Church
1200 East Quincy Avenue
541-942-4771
Pastor:Bob Singer
Worship 11am
Sunday School:9:45am
AWANA age 3-8th Grade,
Wednesdays Sept-May, 6:30pm
www.cgbible.org
200 Gateway Blvd.
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
4
(541) 942-5400
Mon. - Sat. 8am - 9pm
Sun. 9am - 8pm
Evidence of a lack of
readiness became apparent
during this year’s snow-
storm and flooding as sev-
eral requests for aid to the
city and county could not
be met due to resource
constraints. In a state of
emergency, many natural-
ly assume a hierarchy of
emergency management
is capable of addressing
everything within its juris-
diction.
“You should flip that hi-
erarchy,” Ferguson said. “It
needs to be individual and
then city and then county
and state and fed.”
As more individuals are
prepared, systems on other
levels are free to address
more severe problems
which have overloaded
more local resources.
“And that’s true about
each level of government,”
said Ferguson. “So that
means the more the city
can handle its own stuff,
that gives the county the
flexibility of dealing with
the areas outside of the
cities where people aren’t
being addressed.”
1425 Daugherty Ave. • Cottage Grove • 541-942-0054
Church of Christ
420 Monroe St • 541-942-8565
Sunday Service: 10:30am
Cottage Grove
rural communities have
figured out that they’re on
their own and its neigh-
bors helping neighbors,”
said Winningham. “Com-
munities do come together
in the face of disaster and
they help each other.”
Among the projects on
Winningham’s radar is the
empowerment of more in-
dividuals, particularly the
rural areas.
“Because the more pre-
pared they are, the less
likely they’re going to need
me or the first respond-
ers,” she said. “Ask what
you learned from the snow
and what have you done to
fix the problem. How have
you mitigated that prob-
lem so it doesn’t happen
again?”
Meyers, too, believes
the power to respond ef-
fectively rests largely with
citizen readiness.
“I think it boils down
to the individual,” he said.
“We can be as prepared
as we can possibly be. A
neighbor could be as pre-
pared as they could possi-
bly be. But none of that’s
going to work if the indi-
viduals aren’t ready.”
First Baptist Church
301 S. 6th st • 541-942-8242
Pastor: David Chhangte
Sunday School 9:30am
Worship Service 10:30am
Youth Wednesday 6:30pm
cgfi rstbaptist.com
St. Philip Benizi, Creswell
552 Holbrook Lane
Sunday 8:30 AM
St. Andrews Episcopal Church
1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050
Rev. Lawrence Crumb
“Church with the fl ags.”
Worship: Sunday 10:30am
All Welcome
Seventh-day Adventist Church
820 South 10th Street
541-942-5213
Pastor: Kevin Miller
Bible Study: Saturday, 9:15 am
Worship Service: Saturday, 10:40
Mid-week Service: Wednesday, 1:00
Living Faith Assembly
467 S. 10th St. • 541-942-2612
Trinity Lutheran Church
Worship Services Sundays: 9a & 11a 6th & Quincy • 541-942-2373
Youth Worship Sundays: 11a (all
Pastor: James L. Markus
ages welcome)
Sunday School & Adult Education
Mondays: 5:30p (6th-12th grades) 9:15am
Sunday Worship 10:30 am
Non-Denominational
Comm. Kitchen Free Meal Tue & Thur
Church of Christ
5:00pm TLC Groups
1041 Pennoyer Ave
tlccg.com
541-942-8928
Preacher: Tony Martin
United Methodist Church
Sunday Bible Study:10:00am
334 Washington 541-942-3033
Sunday Worship:10:50am & 5:30pm New Pastor Craig Pesti- Strobel
www.pennoyeravecoc.com
Worship 10:30am
umcgrove.org
Old Time Gospel Fellowship
103 S. 5th St. • 541-942-4999
“VICTORY” Country Church
Pastor: Jim Edwards
913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913
Sunday Service: 10:00am
Pastor: Barbara Dockery
Join in Traditional Christian Worship Worship Service: 10:00am
Message: “WE BELIEVE IN
Our Lady of Perpetual Help MIRACLES”
and St. Philip Benizi
Catholic Churches
1025. N. 19th St.
541-942-3420
Father John J. Boyle
Holy Mass:
Saturday Vigil – 5:30 PM
Sunday – 10:30 PM
For weekday and Holy Day of
Obligation schedule see website
OLPHCG.net
Confession: 4 PM to 5 PM
Saturdays or by appointment
CRESWELL:
Creswell Presbyterian Church
75 S 4th S • 541-895-3419
Rev. Seth Wheeler
Adult Sunday School 9:15am
Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am
website www.creswellpres.org
Our Worship Directory is a weekly feature in this
newspaper. If your congregation
would like to be a part of this directory,
contact us today!
S entinel
C ottage G rove
541-942-3325
116 N. 6th Street
Cottage Grove, OR