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The Flood of 1996
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Vol. 11,
No. 4
"Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley"
Feb. 21, 1996
Vernonia hit hard
by “500 year” flood
By Noni Andersen
Flood waters hadn’t yet peaked when this photo of Vernonia Country Kitchen, was
taken.
Heavy rainfall, more than
eight inches in four days, and
a snow pack ranging from
one to three feet on the hills
around the upper Nehalem
Valley combined to create the
Flood of 1996, which easily
reached the FEMA 500-year
flood boundaries.
Sixty-percent of the homes
in Vernonia were evacuated
before dark on Feb. 12, with
reside nts staying at oth e r
homes or at shelters set up at
W ashington Grade School
and Lincoln Grade School.
Shelters had to be set up on
both sides of town because
Rock Creek became a raging
river, cutting the town in half.
The green bridge crossing
the Nehalem River at the east
side of town, was closed be
cause of concerns about the
s tru c tu ra l in te g rity of the
bridge, leaving residents of
the Riverview area cut off in
all directions.
The county-wide 9-1-1 sys
tem, located in the basement
of the courthouse in St. He
lens, was flooded and out of
service, forcing Vernonia to
fall back on an em ergency
operations plan that had been
worked out locally, but never
thoroughly tested.
A command center was set
up in the fire hall. From this
center, members of city gov
ernment and the fire district
dispatched em ergency re
sponse and directed volun-
Please see page 16
Volunteer organization played
major role during flood crisis
By Dale Webb
Having grown up with a father who has
been part of the local volunteer fire depart
ment for many years, I have been exposed to
the inside workings of this dedicated group of
men and women. Following are my experi
ences working with this group of people during
the recent crisis.
The afternoon of February 6, I hurried
home from my job at James River’s Wauna
mill keeping a careful eye on the road for
slides or high water. The rain had been falling
heavily and I knew our community was in for
some high water if it kept up. The road on
Clatskanie Mountain had many small slumps
of dirt and when I reached the bottom of the
mountain at Mist, the road was covered with
water from the form erly small stream that
flow s alongside town. I had been warned
about the slide at Scappoose junction and
took the bridge at Big Eddy Park onto Caven-
ham’s Crooked Creek mainline. After getting
home and eating, Dad and I decided it was
time to go to the fire station.
When we arrived, many other volunteers
were already there. They had placed the river
markers and were beginning to monitor the
river’s rise. It had quite a way to rise before it
would become a problem, so we decided to
get some sleep, just in case Wednesday was
a big day. A small crew of volunteer firefight
ers monitored the streams throughout the
night.
Wednesday the rains were fickle; the river
had risen to the top of its banks, then seemed
to stall. The rain picked up in the afternoon
and evening, but the river slowly fell, making
watchers say “It can’t be going down, look at it
rain!’’ Fire Chief Steve Weller and his officers
decided to have a skeleton crew continue
monitoring the river overnight while the rest of
the firefighters and medics went home and got
some sleep, knowing that if the water started
rising again they would need rested people for
the work ahead, for many of them it would turn
into a nightmare.
About 3:00 a.m. Thursday, I heard Dad’s
pager. He dressed and left in a rush, as he
Please see page 2
The driver of this pickup underesitmated the depth of the
water on Bridge Street. In the background are Vernonia
Country Kitchen and the Senior Center.
INSIDE:
Flood pictures may be found throughout
this issue.
Road conditions..................................See page 4
Silver lining? Flood damage will reduce
your taxes....................................... See page 9
DEQ plans free pickup of
hazardous waste......................... See page 17