lone flood night recalle
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Community pitches in
to mop up in wake
of high water
By Eva Hamlett
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The Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
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SECTION TWO PAGE NINE
Thursday February 15, 1979
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Tuesday morning, Feb. 6,
started out like any other day.
It was fairly warm and light
. with an occasional glimpse of
the sun.
As we sat at the breakfast
table we remarked that some
one was keeping check on the
creek as pickups were driving
in and out all night. I was
hurrying around getting my
work done before going to a
birthday party in the after
noon. At the party someone
called and said Blackhorse
Canyon was running and
flooding Lexington. When we
left the party, Mildred Morgan
and I drove down to the
Gooseberry bridge to look at
the creek, which wasn't lis
high at that time as it had
been. We then drove down to
Ladds Farm as we heard they
had been isolated for a couple
of days. Their lower fields and
the bridge into their place
were covered with water.
We went to the store and on
the way home I drove back to
the creek and it had raised
about 2 feet and looked like it
had about a foot to go before
reaching the top of the bank.
There was quite a crowd over
at the school parking lot and
more driving in and out. Some
people were taking pictures
and everyone seemed appre
hensive. I came home and
started supper.
Creek rises
Adon came home from
Heppner and said he had
never seen Clark Canyon
running like it was,, and that
fields were flooded around
Palmers, Jepsons, McElli
gotts and Emerts. There is an
old creek bed that starts above
Fetch's place and comes
through all the back yards on
Third Street, football field,
swimming pool and back into
the creek on the other side of
the high school. In the '64
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Pete Cannon John Ripple,
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weedo
runoff we didn't get any water
from the creek, except from
the old creek bed, however
this time it came from all
sides. About 5:45, Sharlene
came in and said the water
was coming across the back
yards. We looked out and it
didn't look like the large
puddle of water we had in the
back yard was getting any
bigger so I proceeded to put
supper on the table. I looked
up and a stream of water was
headed for the house. Some
one had gone around and left
bales of hay where they saw
basement windows, so Adon
and I dashed out to get the
bale of hay in our one window.
Already the water was going
in, so we hurried to the
basement and turned off the
water heater and the furnace,
and started putting things up
as high as we could, then went
on the backyard and put the
lawn mower and other garden
tools up on a picnic table.
Water enters homes
We decided to sit down and
eat, however we found out we
weren't hungry. By this time
Crowells, Anna Ball and
Charlie O'Connors had left, so
I put the food away, the dishes
in the sink, turned everything
off but the porch light and left.
At this time there was about
four feet of water in the
basement and was pouring in
all sides of the house ; between
the foundations and the house,
it looked like someone had a
garden hose forcing it in. We
had to wade through a couple
of feet of water to get to the
pickup. We went by to pick up
Sharlene but she said she was
staying, "If her house went
she was going with it." We
drove around looking the
situation over.
Joe Halverson had moved
the furniture out of his house
and the water was running
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in your alfalfa.
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through it. Water was two to
three feet deep on the football
field with all sorts of things
floating around. You couldn't
get through to Fourth Street,
as the water was too high, and
we didn't try to go by the
school as there were a lot of
cars and people trying to help
block the water away. We
went down to the tavern where
others who had left were
waiting.
Flood crests
Adon went out to find
some of the Columbia Basin
Electric men to cut the power
to our place as all our fuse
boxes were in the basement.
Someone said that wasn't
necessary, that when the
water hit them they would
blow either in the basement or
at the pole. I've got news for
them the water line was 5
inches above the boxes and
they never did go out. Thurs
day evening we blew a fuse,
and the plug Adon brought up
was full of dirty water.
Back at the tavern as we sat
waiting, someone called in
and said more water was
coming, and would probably
crest about 11 p.m. We sure
didn't need that kind of news
as it was only about 7 p.m.
then. Gene and Evelyn Lan
caster came in, and said they
had just come home and
couldn't even get to their
place. Their tool shed and
tools were gone, the skirting
on the mobile home torn loose,
and his motor home was
surrounded with water. Pretty
soon someone looked out the
window and said the water
was coming down Main and
Second Streets. Water had
been running all day from
Rietmann Canyon and those
businesses in the west end of
town already had bales of hay
around them. All reports
9
Mgr. Lewis Thompson
13
were, "it's still rising" until
about 8:15 when they said the
water had dropped a couple of
inches.
Clean-up starts
That was the best news we
had heard all evening. From
then on the water began
dropping pretty fast. About 10
p.m. we went over to Shar
lene's and came home about
11:30 to find seven feet of
water in our basement. All my
fruit cupboards were up
ended, jars, canned good,
paint cans and everything we
had in the basement was
floating on top of the water.
(Learned the next day that
Charlie O'Connors deep freeze
full of meat was turned over.)
We shut the door and went to
bed.
By morning some water had
seeped out and left only about
four feet. We sat listening to
the radio, and it was an
nounced lone had a flood and
Beechers Fine Food Restau
rant had water in it even with
the grill; a little later they
announced the same thing
only this time it was half way
to the ceiling. My brother,
Norman, from Portland called
having heard on the Portland
stations that 3'2 feet of water
went down Main Street in
lone. Eventually I guess, all
the reports were corrected.
Wednesday, crews were
working all over town. Paul
Pettyjohn had his men pump
ing water out of the residence
basements. They started with
Charlie O'Connors, then ours,
Wilsons, Martins and Riet
manns that I know of. Thurs
day morning they dug out
some of the mud in front of the
Cont. on page 10
Call
If no answer
989-8221
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On George Washington's REAL
birthday February 22 your
Heppner Merchants are kicking off
a huge
WASHINGTON DAYS SALE
THURSDAYoFRIDAYoSATURDAY
FEBRUARY 22o23o24
IN HEPPNER
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3-day sale!
lone
EPPNER
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High School's athletic '
field, the day after last week's
flood, is buried under silt and
debris. Volunteers cleaned up
mud inside the school in time
for classes to resume on
Monday.
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