December 8, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
Accounts of an historic storm
Storm from Page 4A
The storm was to hit the
coast on Sunday. Most school
districts canceled school for
Monday and prepared their
buildings. I remember that the
sky was clear and calm for a
very long time that Sunday.
When the storm finally hit,
the heavy winds sounded like
a train that went on for hours.
Trees and cell towers toppled
and the power was out for
many days.
On Monday morning, the
winds were still raging but
I went out to check in at the
emergency operations center
at the Seaside Police Depart-
ment to determine the overall
damage. I then checked on
the schools. Downed trees
blocked streets. Trees were
blown down at each school.
I was very impressed and
thankful that a number of
community members checked
in on their neighbors, bringing
chainsaws and needed sup-
plies. After several days, food
in freezers began to thaw. I
know of at least one good
Samaritan who had a portable
generator and would provide
an hour or so of additional
power to refreeze refriger-
ators. Personally, natural
gas allowed us to use our
fireplace, stove, and hot water
heater — so we were better
off than many.
After experiencing the lack
of communication during the
aftermath, I had all adminis-
trators and supervisors take
ham radio classes and bought
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TOM HORNING
Trees down in front of a Seaside home in the wake of the storm.
them portable ham radios for
emergencies. One other thing
we have noticed is there are
a large number of fifth-grade
students who will be turning
10 about the same time this
year.
Keith Chandler
We have a gas-powered
pump for the fish at the aquar-
ium. When the power went
out, we had to man that pump
for five days, for 24 hours a
day. Every two hours and 15
minutes it had to be refueled.
The more challenging part
was getting gas to run the
pumps, because there wasn’t
power to any of the gas
stations either. Fortunately, a
former employee who had a
landscaping company, Tom
Thies, had several gas cans
at his house and he brought
them over for us to use. He
wasn’t mowing lawns that
week. He knew our situation
with our power out, and he
brought us all his gas.
We used that, then we
siphoned the gas out of our
trucks.
After the second day,
Fred Meyer got power, so we
could go to Fred Meyer and
get gas.
As long as the pump was
working, the circulation
worked for all the fish. The
seals, they were fine. We have
a system set up where we ac-
tually use city water to fill the
seal tank. But after five days
of not being able to pump wa-
ter from the ocean, we were
getting low on the reserve.
That was a concern too.
We were always watching
the outside of the building.
Our biggest concern was the
big sign that hangs out on the
Prom. There was one point
where the bolts started to
come loose. We had to hang
out of the windows upstairs
and bolt those back in. I had
someone else hanging onto
my feet so I would not be
blown away.
I camped out here for a
day and a half before my co-
worker came in to relieve me.
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Looking back at the storm from Gearhart
Clearing roads
after 100 mph
winds
Always
have a plan
By R.J. Marx
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Seaside Signal
Gearhart Fire Chief Bill
Eddy was on duty during the
storm of 2007. Looking back,
he described “microbursts” —
small pockets of winds up to
100 mph. “You could actually
hear it coming,” he said.
Like last year’s hurricane
in Manzanita, the winds cut a
swath, hitting some properties
but leaving others untouched.
While phone service was
down, firefighters could re-
ceive local calls. Teams went
out in trucks with chainsaws
and worked their way through
the fallen trees.
The areas of the Highlands
and Surf Pines were especial-
ly hard-hit, Eddy said, “where
nobody could get out and no-
body could get in.”
Fortunately, he added, con-
tractors that lived up there
with some heavy equipment.
After clearing the bigger
areas, crews started to look at
individual driveways.
The houses in Gearhart
actually fared pretty well, he
said. “The trees didn’t, but the
houses did.”
Police Chief Jeff Bowman
conducted welfare checks,
Eddy said, while firefight-
ers cleared roads in case
they needed to get apparatus
through.
What lesson did the city
learn from the Great Coast-
al Gale of 2007?
According to geolo-
gist Tom Horning, now a
city councilor, while the
threats of storms and those
of earthquake are very dif-
ferent: but they both re-
quire planning. “What we
learned was that the mete-
orologists were able to pre-
dict the storm two days in
advance, with accuracy and
following the exact path it
took,” Horning said.
While damage was
mostly limited to fallen
trees and power lines, many
homes were damaged, par-
ticularly those without
strong reinforcement.
Powerful earthquakes
will be the warning of an
impending tsunami. Every-
one should know that they
will have only 20 minutes
to evacuate to safety, Horn-
ing said. That adds to the
urgency to have a viable
safety strategy before the
event happens.
GEARHART FIRE DEPARTMENT
Firefighters Tony Como and Chad Sweet clear fallen trees
after the 2007 storm.
Without power, freez-
ers gave out and homes and
restaurants emptied their
stocks.
“We ate better that we ever
had in our lives,” Eddy said.
“Even though I worked my
butt off I gained 10 pounds.”
Lessons learned?
“We learned that the com-
munications were terrible
down here,” Eddy said.
Another thing firefighters
discovered was the need for
fuel. Fortunately, Eddy said,
Seaside Fire gave permission
for Gearhart trucks to fill up
there.
“We found out that the
community is a lot more resil-
ient than we give them credit
for,” Eddy said. “They did a
very good job. We didn’t have
any whiners.”
Jeff Ter Har remembers
the Columbus Day Storm of
1962. “I lived through that —
that was scary but this one was
phenomenal,” the Surf Pines
resident and business owner
said.
So many trees fell he and
others in the Gearhart com-
munity were trapped without
phones or power. “Literally no
communications.”
Ter Har’s main concern
were his parents in downtown
Gearhart. “I couldn’t get to
them or talk to them,” he said.
“It was just really scary.”
It was a minor disaster, he
said.
“It made people start to pre-
pare better for other future di-
sasters,” Ter Har said. “It made
you think about having gas in
the car and ready to go. It does
make you think.
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Getting out, reaching out in the aftermath of the storm
By Nancy McCarthy
For the Seaside Signal
Toward the end of the week
there were rumors that cell
service had returned to Sea-
side. The highway had been
cleared, so I decided to go
there.
I’ll never forget what I
saw: My first impression was,
“This must be what it would
be like during an apocalypse.”
I went to the Safeway store.
Since they were working only
with generators, the lights
were dim. Yellow caution tape
was draped across the frozen
food aisles. Many shelves
were empty (no supplies could
get through because of the
downed trees). Shoppers were
quietly walking through put-
ting the food that was avail-
able in their shopping carts;
they looked like they were still
in shock. I guess the cash reg-
isters were working, but it was
sketchy because there was so
little electrical power.
Next door to Safeway, there
was a long line of people with
shopping carts outside the Rite
Aid. I couldn’t figure out what
was going on, so I checked
it out. They were waiting for
bags of ice to be loaded into
their carts. Ice was the only
way we could keep anything
cold. I thought for sure they
would be charging a lot per
bag (supply and demand, you
know), but they charged only
$1 a bag.
At the Chevron gas sta-
tion, vehicles were crowded
around the gas pumps, and
they extended into the street.
A television camera crew was
interviewing drivers. It was
the first time gas was available
since the storm began. I think
they were also working with
generators.
Anyone who wasn’t at
Safeway, Rite Aid or the gas
station was at the Cove in Sea-
side. People were walking on
the rocks or balancing on the
logs, cell phones to their ears,
reassuring family and friends
that they were OK. It was the
first time in nearly a week that
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Nancy McCarthy is the
former editor of the Seaside
Signal and Cannon Beach
Gazette.
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