NEWS
A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020
Flood recovery draws statewide attention
By ALEX CASTLE AND ANTONIO SIERRA
STAFF WRITERS
National Guard soldiers from
Pendleton’s 1st Battalion, 168th
Aviation of the Oregon Army
National Guard were on a standard
training mission when the news
fi rst broke of rising fl oodwaters
along the Umatilla River last week.
The crew were told to go recon
in an area over the river when they
witnessed the disaster that was
unfolding on the ground.
“Once you get up there and
realize how much devastation and
damage there was, you see that
it’s pretty signifi cant,” Chief War-
rant Offi cer 3 Ray Talkington said
Friday.
After seeing the devastation
below, the crew went into res-
cue mode for the next four days
as fl oodwaters left people stranded
throughout Umatilla County.
Between Feb. 6-9, three helicopters
from the Oregon Army National
Guard rescued 54 people, 10 dogs,
one cat and one rabbit from fl oods.
“These Oregon National Guard
members took part in the larg-
est search and rescue operation in
Oregon’s history,” said Stephen
Bomar, director of public affairs
with the Oregon Military Depart-
ment. “They did an amazing job
supporting the community and sav-
ing lives.”
Gov. Kate Brown landed at the
Pendleton National Guard Avia-
tion Facility on Friday morning
and promptly presented Talking-
ton, and six others based in Pend-
leton, the Oregon Meritorious Ser-
vice Medal. Three others were also
presented with Oregon Commen-
dation Medals.
The meritorious medals are
awarded to those who show out-
standing individual performance
in support of the state of Oregon,
while the commendation medals
are awarded to those who provide
an act or series of acts in support of
the Oregon Army National Guard.
Along with Talkington, Chief
Warrant Offi cer 2 Jeremiah Wil-
liams, Staff Sgt. Steven Kirkpat-
rick, Capt. Taylor Frye, Sgt. Joseph
Ford, Sgt. Marcus Hickman and
Sgt. Skylar Leasy were also pre-
sented with the Oregon Meritori-
ous Service Medal.
Chief Warrant Offi cer 2 Steven
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Staff photo by Alex Castle
Gov. Kate Brown shakes hands with Sgt. Marcus Hickman of Pendleton’s
1st Battalion, 168th Aviation of the Oregon Army National Guard after
presenting him with the Oregon Meritorious Service Medal during a
ceremony on Friday morning.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, right, speaks with volunteers from the American Red
Cross during a tour on Saturday. The organization had over 100 people sign
up to volunteer in wake of severe fl ooding throughout Umatilla County on
Feb. 6.
McDaniel, Staff Sgt. Matthew Tay-
lor and Sgt. Katelyn Shurts, also
members of Pendleton’s 1-168th,
were presented with Oregon Com-
mendation Medals.
distance and cut through the red
tape.”
Wyden started to shorten the
distance in the immediate after-
math of the fl ood when he and his
staff reached out to county leaders
to offer support and check in.
“Politics aside, I don’t care
about right or left, the senator
cares,” Umatilla County Commis-
sioner John Shafer said Saturday.
“I appreciate that. We all appreci-
ate that.”
Wyden’s visit started Satur-
day with a comprehensive briefi ng
with leaders and representatives
from local governments and orga-
nizations at the Umatilla County
Emergency Operations Center.
Umatilla County Sheriff Terry
Rowan began the briefi ng with a
detailed account of the fl oods and
the immediate response, along
with where the situation rests now.
When asked by Wyden, Rowan
said a rough estimate of people still
isolated at their residences due to
damage from the fl ood is about 50.
After Rowan’s presentation,
municipal and county leaders rose
and spoke specifi cally about the
devastation and fi nancial costs
their own communities are facing.
While in town, Wyden also vis-
ited the Red Cross shelter in Pend-
leton, and spent Sunday morn-
ing touring Pendleton’s Riverview
Mobile Home Estates and speak-
ing with people who had their
homes damaged.
Brown tours recovery zone
During Brown’s visit Friday,
she also toured areas of devas-
tation. Although the waters had
long since receded, the evidence
was still there when she visited the
breached levee by Keystone RV
Co. and Cor-Tek.
A truncated stormwater pipe
once fi rmly located underground
sat listlessly behind Brown as she
delivered remarks to Portland TV
news crews. Pendleton city engi-
neer Tim Simons pointed to a
scraggle of gnarled trees below the
heavily eroded bank and told the
governor that was where the levee
used to start.
Offi cially known as the Pendle-
ton Zone 2 levee, the city of Pend-
leton is seeking $1.8 million from
the state to fi x the levee, at least
until the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency agrees to reim-
burse the city’s costs. The Zone 2
levee is comprised of several seg-
ments that start west of Interstate
84 and extends all the way to Birch
Creek.
After comforting a crying
co-manager at Riverview Mobile
Home Estates, another area hard hit
by the rising river, Brown argued
that the damage enacted by the
fl ood went beyond infrastructure.
“We just had a very solid reve-
nue forecast this week,” she said.
“I’m confi dent that we can provide
the resources at least temporarily
to make sure the levees get rebuilt.
I think it’s important that we keep
people in the (Oregon) Capitol
working on solutions because hon-
estly it’s not just the levees, it’s
housing. These folks did not have
insurance, probably this whole
park. We’ve got to fi gure out hous-
ing for them and I’m hoping the
state can step up with a solution.”
Wyden visits fl ood zone
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and his
staff knew from early reports of
the fl oods in Umatilla County ear-
lier this month that it wasn’t a typ-
ical one.
While past fl oods have required
quick responses and brought com-
munities together in Eastern Ore-
gon, the scale and impact of the
disaster earlier this month was
beyond what he’d come to expect.
Over the weekend, Wyden got
to see and hear for himself how
the fl oods have affected the area
in a visit to Pendleton that featured
meetings with local government
leaders, relief organizations, vol-
unteers and victims.
“We’re 3,000 miles from D.C.,
so a lot of times folks feel like D.C.
might as well be Mars,” Wyden
said. “And I understand that. So
it’s my job to kind of shorten the
First-Class Team.
World-Class Treatment You Deserve.
“To be able to see this now,
you can’t do this job sitting behind
your desk in D.C.,” he said after
the tour. “You can read reports and
hear accounts of damage and all
the rest, but to see someone like the
gentleman we just saw who lost his
house and lost his car. He had noth-
ing. Just nothing.”
Aid off ered
Donations have also come to
Umatilla County in the aftermath
of the fl ooding.
Wells Fargo & Co. announced
a $100,000 donation on Friday to
aid in local relief efforts in East-
ern Oregon, according to a press
release from the organization.
The Wells Fargo Foundation
will donate $50,000 to the Amer-
ican Red Cross and $50,000 to
Community Action Plan of East-
ern Central Oregon for immediate
needs such as shelter and meals.
Customers who are experienc-
ing hardship due to the storms can
contact Wells Fargo at the number
on their credit cards, debit cards or
statements to discuss their options.
Affected customers can also con-
tact their banker by visiting their
nearest Wells Fargo branch.
Other companies, includ-
ing Pacifi c Power, have also
announced large cash donations,
and farms in Washington and
Oregon have been collecting and
donating hay for livestock dis-
placed by the fl ooding.
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