NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
A5
Pilot Rock flood waters recede slowly
By Kathy Aney
and Alex Castle
EO Media Group
Ray Arriola stood in the
muddy middle of Main Street
and watched water sluicing
over a parking lot that sits
between rushing East Birch
Creek and a secondhand store
called “Jer and Ter’s.”
He gestured toward a
twisted length of metal safety
fence at creekside that rushing
water had flung aside during
Wednesday’s flooding of
downtown Pilot Rock.
“The power of water is
amazing,” he said shaking his
head, “but I think we’re over
the hump now.”
Arriola lives on the other
side of the creek. A row of
sandbags did its job, keeping
water out of his home.
Residents are still a bit
shellshocked at how quickly
the creek overflowed its banks
and flooded Highway 395
where the road curls through
the downtown core. Water
had receded somewhat by
Thursday morning, but the
Pilot Rock Market parking lot
was still a lake. The highway
remained closed to through
traffic.
On the west side of 395,
sandbags were stacked high
around J&D’s Food Mart,
making an effective barrier
that kept the store and the gas
pump island relatively dry.
The card slot of the store’s out-
door ATM machine blinked
invitingly. Someone with-
drawing money would have
had a nice view of the high-
way and water rooster-tailing
from the tires of passing emer-
gency vehicles.
At nearby Coffee Station
EO Media Group/Kathy Aney
An emergency vehicle sends up spray as it travels along Highway
395 through Pilot Rock on Thursday.
EO Media Group/Kathy Aney
The Pilot Rock Market remained closed on Thursday after being flooded the day before.
No. 1, patrons sipped the local
brew and exchanged informa-
tion about where the creek is
jammed up and whose base-
ments are flooded. At City
Hall, Pilot Rock Police Chief
Bill Caldera had been up
almost 30 hours straight. He
and his officers had knocked
on doors to warn homeown-
ers of rising water and helped
wherever they were needed.
He marveled at the esprit de
corp of the city’s residents
who flocked to two sandbag-
ging stations at opposite ends
of town. Caldera said the Red
Cross took three evacuated
families and put them up at
Pendleton hotels.
Clint Young talked on his
cell outside Jer and Ter’s,
which belongs to his grand-
mother, Terry Arbogast. When
he hung up, he said water had
flooded the basement of the
place, which is also Arbo-
gast’s home. Family members
had worked to move valued
items, such as a drum set that
had belonged to his grandfa-
ther, to safer spots. But noth-
ing could save the old Cadillac
out back. Young said the vin-
tage car, which he and his wife
had driven away in after their
wedding, was a mess.
Kristen Smith sat at her
desk at Eastern Oregon Waste
Management, right next
door to the Pilot Rock mar-
ket. Somehow the business
had come away compara-
tively unscathed with only a
little water damage. Smith,
who is secretary at EOWM
and the city clerk, joined the
sandbag brigade yesterday,
finally leaving at 10 p.m. Pilot
Rock’s team spirit, she said, is
inspiring.
“It was heartbreaking, yet
heartwarming with everyone
working together,” she said.
“It’s an amazing place.”
The damage is still com-
ing to light. County Commis-
sioner John Shafer said county
road crews were out Thursday
attempting to assess and work
on the most impacted areas,
though Pilot Rock appeared to
have suffered the worst of the
floods. There’s been no con-
firmed reports of bridges that
have been washed out, but
Shafer said the approach to
one on West Birch Creek Road
in Pilot Rock was impassable
and some residents are cur-
rently unable to reach their
homes in the area.
“Our road crews can’t get
out there to work on it until the
waters recede,” he said.
Butch Wilson of Pacific
Power drove through Pilot
Rock on Thursday morning
on the way to Pearson Creek,
where reportedly a power pole
had fallen into the creek.
The flooding May 20-21
was the result of excessive
rainfall throughout the region
in recent days. The rain-
fall reached record levels for
the Pendleton area May 20.
According to the National
Weather Service in Pendleton,
the area received 1.11 inches
of rain, shattering the previous
record for May 20 that was set
in 1894 at 0.79 inches.
The recent rainfall led to
rising levels in rivers through-
out the region and surrounding
streams, including the Uma-
tilla, Walla Walla, John Day,
Grande Ronde and Imnaha
rivers.
The Bureau of Reclama-
tion attempted to manage lev-
els at the McKay Creek Res-
ervoir by increasing out-take
levels to 1,400 cubic feet per
second. Shafer said the reser-
voir reportedly peaked at an
in-take level of about 5,000
cfs May 20, but those levels
had dropped rapidly to 2,200
cfs by Thursday morning.
“The plan is to maintain the
1,400 cfs to allow for enough
space in the reservoir to be
established to protect against
future rain events as well as
the impact on residents along
McKay creek,” a release from
the city of Pendleton stated
Thursday.
According to the North-
west River Forecast Center,
the Umatilla River near Pend-
leton was at 12.26 feet as of
11 a.m. Thursday, which is
less than half an inch below its
flood stage of 12.3 feet.
Road crews also responded
to Nolin Grade Road near
Echo on Thursday morn-
ing, Shafer said, and will be
inspecting the Coombs Can-
yon area along the Umatilla
River near Rieth.
Though it feels a bit like
“Groundhog Day” after his-
toric flooding ravaged the
county in February, Sha-
fer said initial reports indi-
cate that county infrastructure
damages won’t come close to
the $25 million dealt by flood-
waters months ago.
“The peak is over, and
we’re starting to see the end
of it,” he said. “I think we’ll
be all right as long as it stops
raining.”
Head of Grant County Economic Development office steps down
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Allison Field announced her
resignation as director of Grant
County Economic Develop-
ment after about a year on the
job at a county court meeting
May 19.
Field submitted her resigna-
tion May 12, and her last day
was May 25, Human Resources
Manager Laurie Wright said.
The position is currently being
advertised internally to county
employees, and the county court
has not yet appointed an interim
director, she said.
Since early April, Field
has been working within the
COVID-19 Emergency Oper-
ations Center as part of the
finance group, which includes
Oregon RAIN, the Economic
Development office and the
EOC. The group collaborated
on writing the county’s reopen-
ing application and on helping
businesses with loans and grant
programs to soften the eco-
nomic blow of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Field updated the court on
the Economic Development
office’s latest efforts.
She said the office sent out
press releases through both the
Blue Mountain Eagle and the
radio to let businesses in the
county know her office has
attempted to contact them amid
the crisis to let them know the
office is available to them.
“We realize that it’s a big
task to reach out to individ-
ual businesses, and know that,
if they haven’t been contacted,
it could be for several reasons,
out-of-date contact information
or closures,” Field said.
On May 15 the office posted
on its Facebook page: “Please
know that businesses have not
been intentionally left out. We
care about all businesses as they
are crucial to Grant County.”
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Allison Field, Grant County Economic Development director, ad-
dresses Grant County Court May 19. Field stepped down as head
of the department after more than a year in the position.
The post encouraged busi-
nesses in need of assistance
to call Economic Develop-
ment at 541-575-1555 or email
info@grantcountyoregon.net or
Stephanie LeQuieu with Ore-
gon RAIN at 541-965-1598 or
stephanie@oregonnrain.org.
Field said the Economic
Development office, through
GREAT, the local economic
development nonprofit, applied
for a grant from the Oregon
Community Foundation for an
emergency grant fund for small
businesses.
GREAT applied for $75,000,
and the county put in a $25,000
match for a total of $100,000,
she said.
Field also asked the court
to allocate $10,000 toward the
project development portion of
next year’s budget to continue
Oregon RAIN.
She said the county has a
two-year contract with the non-
profit, and she wanted to put
the money toward RAIN while
still the director. County Com-
missioner Jim Hamsher praised
LeQuieu, Grant County’s rural
catalyst with Oregon RAIN, for
the work she has been doing in
the community.
Field said LeQuieu has been
holding workshops online,
hosting virtual meetups and
helping businesses.
“She has been instrumen-
tal to our business community,”
Field said.
Hamsher said LeQuieu
should give the court a presen-
tation of the work she has been
doing in the community.
Grant County Judge Scott
Myers suggested the court wait
on obligating the money.
“I am just curious as to
whether or not someone that
might follow you in that posi-
tion may or may not feel that is
the best use of Economic Devel-
opment money within that bud-
get,” Myers said.
The court voted to wait on
approving the funding.
The court thanked Field for
her service to the county and
wished her the best of luck in
her endeavors.
In other Grant County
Court news:
• The court decided to revisit
reopening county offices until
next week’s regular session.
• The court approved title III
administrator Beth Simonson’s
request to obligate 2019 funds
and initiate 2020 funds. Myers
said $75,000 is obligated for
2019 and $75,000 is initiated for
the 2020 funds.
had difficulty standing on
West Bench Road.
May 20: Responded for an
85-year-old man on Highway
26 near milepost 140.
May 20: Along with Ore-
gon State Police and Seneca
ambulance, dispatched for a
single-vehicle rollover crash
with injuries on Highway 395
near milepost 24.
May 22: Dispatched for a
woman with a possible dia-
betic issue on West Main
Street.
• John Day fire
May 20: Dispatched for a
report of propane fumes on
Southwest Brent Drive.
• Long Creek ambulance
May 19: Paged for a patient
transport on East Main Street
for an 81-year-old man with
swelling/fluid retention.
• Canyon City Fire
May 22: Responded to
a report of black smoke on
Adam Drive.
• Grant County Road
Department
May 20: Advised of flood-
ing on County Road 20.
COPS AND COURTS
0
Grant County Sheriff
The Grant County Sheriff’s
Office reported the following
for the week of May 20:
Concealed
handgun
licenses: 11
Average inmates: 6
Bookings: 6
Search and Rescue: 0
Dispatch
John Day dispatch worked
86 calls during the week of
May 18-22, including:
• John Day Police
Department
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May 18: Cited Ste-
ven M. Warrington, 30,
of John Day for driving
while suspended and no
insurance.
May 21: Krista Sheedy, 30,
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ure to obey traffic device on
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• Oregon State Police
May 18: Advised of pigs
on Highway 26 near milepost
142.
May 21: Advised of a slide
off on Highway 26 near Dixie
Summit.
• Grant County Sheriff’s
Office
May 18: Received a report
of fraud on Ingle Street.
May 21: Received a report
of shots fired on Highway 26
near milepost 178.
• John Day ambulance
May 18: Paged for a
78-year-old man on Southeast
Hillcrest Road.
May 18: Responded to a
73-year-old woman on North-
west Canton Street.
May 19: Dispatched for
a woman who was dizzy and
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