Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1996)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 21. 1996 - THREE Willow Creek Dam prevents flooding Flood damage needs to be reported Mini-retreat set at Hope Lutheran W illo w C r e e k L a k e fills up w ith w a te r B y A p ril H ilto n -S y k e s South Morrow County es caped serious flooding follow ing record snow, rain and run- off--thanks to the Willow Creek Dam. T "The dam saved the day for u s," said Emergency Manage ment director Casey Beard. Beard said that while the situa tion would not have resulted in a catastrophic flash flood, the area including Heppner, Lex ington and lone, would have been inundated. "It certainly would have meant three to four feet of water in downtown Heppner," said Beard. "It would have gotten businesses on Main Street. It would have been an economic disaster." Beard said that at one point 570-580 cubic feet of water a se- cond was coming into the dam county, city, federal and private with 170-180 cubic feet a second individuals worked together to coming into Balm Fork. Hinton prevent a disaster. He said that Creek, which comes into the National Weather Service Willow Creek below the dam out of Pendleton notified local was about 280 cubic feet a se officials of a potentially dan cond, with Shobe Creek also at gerous situation. He said that record amounts and Rhea the Heppner Volunteer Fire Creek full to the bank. Beard Department worked all night said that the problem was com checking streams, city crews pounded by many ice jams. kept culverts clear and the Beard said that Willow Creek county public works depart Dam had been drawn down, as ment cleared ice jams. is done every fall, in anticipa Beard said that stream tion of flooding, and the Corps gauges have been installed as of Engineers shut down the far downstream as Rhea Creek. flow of water coming out of the Beard said that the county dam to five cubic feet per suffered $1,400,000 in damage, second. mostly to roads, but also in Beard said that while the dam cluding some private property. was critical in averting a flood, Of that, he said that around management of the situation $100,000 of the damage was was also crucial. He says that uninsured. Beard added that local officials are now working to have the county receive a presidential disaster designa tion and will meet in Pendleton Thursday with Federal Emer gency Management Agency representatives. Beard said that flood sirens will be activated in March, pro bably with intermittent testing and a major flood drill is scheduled for June. Laurie Larson-Caesar, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, will present "Women of the Bible" at a mini-retreat at Hope Lutheran Church in Heppner on Sunday, Feb. 25. A salad lunch will be at noon,. with Larson-Caesar's presenta tion following at 1 p.m. The presentation is a con densed version of a class she taught at Blue Mountain Com munity College. Those atten ding are asked to bring their Bibles and to contact Vicki Broden, 676-5065 or Carol Hoobing, 676-5069, so there will be enough salads for all attending. Larson-Caesar is married to Pastor Drew Caesar of the First Presbyterian Church in Pendle ton. She is currently a can didate for ordination Lutheran ministry. Rachel Hoobing, a biology major who graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, will be the liturgist and preach er at the 9 a.m. service at Valby Lutheran Church in lone and at the 11 a.m. worship service at Hope. Sunday School for children ages four through sixth grade will be held at both churches during the worship service hour. Visitors and friends of the parish are welcome to attend worship services and events of the parish. Morrow County residents who have experienced flood damage to private property should report uninsured dam ages as soon as possible. They should call the Federal Emer gency Management Agency's National Teleregistration Cen ter at 1-800-462-9029 and then Morrow County Emergency M anagement (MCEM) at 676-5161. "Morrow County residents should call these numbers, especially the toll-free number, as soon as possible," says MCEM director Casey Beard. "This gives Morrow County residents a better chance of receiving federal money to pay for uninsured damages from floods." Oregon governor John Kitz- haber has declared Morrow County a Disaster Area. How ever, Morrow County was not included in the Presidential Disaster Declaration. Morrow County officials are requesting to be included in the Presiden tial Declaration in order to receive federal assistance. "Morrow County experienc ed the worst flooding in 30 years last week,” said Beard. "Dam age to roads, bridges, utilities and parks is estimated at 1.5 million dollars. An esti mate of damage to private pro perty is still being assembled." In addition to the numbers mentioned above, Morrow County residents who are plan ning to do streambed repair should call (541) 388-6112 be fore making repairs. ST. PATRICK’S PA Y IS M O T FARAW AY... We «ill toon be "Turning Green" We S u i. i Pat's Party > Store! N eed w o « ere I V your w prescription records for 1995? Ask 2 I 7 N orth M ,nn H epp ner 6 7 6-915 » for a profile O W CENEX TIRE & BATTERY SALE Ä. ___ / \ Game night and dinner HERE'S HOW I P Ç scheduled Tri Rib Hi-Flotation Quad Rib Stabilizes steering control. A tire designed to float acro ss difficult wet fields. A gri tough rubber. Free Mounting Field Hazard W arranty Long Starts! Game night and dinner is planned for Friday, Feb. 23, at Stokes Landing Senior Center in Irrigon. The dinner will be served from 5-7 p.m. at a cost of $3. The menu will include roast pork, applesauce, fresh bread, dessert and coffee. Pinochle and scrabble games begin at 7 p.m.; or those atten ding may bring their own favorite game. The cost is $1. Everyone is welcome to at tend. The center is located on N. Main at Opal Place in the west part of Irrigon. $7.50 Worth of H B B B of Iwo pickup tires or four retreads. Private applicator's LT195/75R-14/6 S ilv e r B u lle t G r 2 4 875 C C Am p s 60 month warranty 64 . 99 * CENEX GARDEN TRACTOR BATTERY U1/165 C C AMPS 22.54 * prie» with cor« exchange free installation M o rro w C o u n ty G ra in G ro w e rs 350 Mam Street Lexington, Oregon Phone 989 8221 97839 1 800 452 7396 J \ training set Department of Agriculture (ODA) will give an exam fol lowing the meeting at 1:30 p.m. Space is limited to 45 parti cipants, so preregistration is en couraged by calling HAREC at 567-8321. There will be no re gistration fee for the course, but participants are encouraged to study the "Oregon Pesticide Applicator Manual" prior to the training session. A limited number of copies are currently available for $14.50 each at the HAREC or the Morrow Coun ty Extension Service in Hepp ner. Four recertification credits will be available for attending this training session for those who currently hold a license. Exams for a private ap plicators license will be given at 1:30 p.m. in the HAREC con ference room, or at a later date by contacting ODA, 567-2249. $15.00 Worth of R B B E* with the purchase of four now passenger or pickup tires. M i SIASON S T B RAOUL SIZ E L T 2 1 5 /8 5 R -1 6 /8 L T 2 3 5 /8 5 R -1 6 /1 0 L T 1 9 5 /7 5 R -1 4 /6 L T 2 1 5 /7 5 R -1 5 /6 L T 2 3 5 /7 5 R -1 5 /6 L T 2 6 5 /7 5 R 1 6 /6 2 7 /8 5 0 R -1 4 /6 3 0 /9 5 0 R -1 5 /6 I RANDY ANDERSON Manager JEFF SHANK A ss t Manager Heppner MARCY BACON Bookkeeper DON CHRISTMAN BRYAN BASF0R0 R U S S E U BRANNON (JUSTIN C0SSITT Alignment Sudden Service Sudden Service Sudden Service 124 N. M ain 676-9481
