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...
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We
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2 I 7 N orth M ,nn
H epp ner
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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