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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1996)
Page 14 The INDEPENDENT, Feb. 21,1996_____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________ Evacuations continue as water gets higher and more dangerous the potential of mixing dogs and pigs, but I headed over to try and save the frantic ani mal. Unfortunately, just as we reached the pig, it gave a few last kicks and rolled over on its side. It was scary to ob served the anim al dying in front of me, and it reinforced the reality that this flood was a very real and dangerous event. We landed the boat about two blocks downstream on Hwy 47, on what I would call Buckner Island. Shortly, Jim pulled up in his pickup and we were off to a friend's house on State Avenue via a subm erged Hwy 47, and S toney Point Road. State was mostly under water when we arrived, but the evacuees fe lt safe at th e ir frie n d ’s house. Jim and I needed a rest, so back to the station we drove, fo r food and dry clothes. We filled our stomachs and I got my sweatshirt dried out before we were sent down town to help shuttle people back and forth across what I now referred to as Bridge Street Lake. As we went to check on a residence on D S treet, we met my g ra nd mother, who was quite con cerned about her house on North Street. On our return trip we swung into my grand mother’s house and with the help of my uncle, Larry Bernardi, and Jim, managed to get most of her furniture up off the floor. The water had just reached the front porch. Next, Jim and I were dis patched to evacuate an older ge ntle m an from a m obile hom e park on R iverview Drive. The river ran around a house at the entrance of the park and right down the road way. It was awesome to see the completely flooded trailer From page 2 ter was forced out toward the river channel by the fences around the hom es on Heather Lane. We continued to our destination, slipping down a side street and right up to the sliding glass door of the house. T here w ere fo u r o ccu pants, a man, tw o wom en and a child. There were also tw o dogs. B ecause of the heavy c u rre n t on the way back to the pickup, we decid ed to take only take two peo ple at a tim e and no dogs. The c h ild was d is tra u g h t about the situation and it was gut-wrenching to stick to our decision. We headed back to ward the pickup and, as we had thought, the current was considerable. After Jim pow ered us about two-thirds of the way we came to a shal low sectio n w here I could jum p out of the boat and push. Jim and I were getting a little played-out when we got back to the pickup, which by this time had water run ning around it. We decided our smartest move would be to have Jim drive around Stoney Point Rd. and meet me and the other two evac uees. Back at the house, I noticed concern in the two w om en’s vo ic e s as th e y asked what had happened to my partner. I reassured them that everybody was fine and we had a change of plans. Since I would be able to drift with the current on my exit of the residence, I decided to take the two dogs with us. We had just left the house when we noticed a pig swim ming around in circles in the middle of the former street. I had to think twice about the safety of my occupants, and park. Looking toward the river we could see almost two feet of difference between where we floated and the hump in the middle of the river. Mobile homes and fences held back the water. At space 22 we loaded our precious cargo —an elderly man, three dogs and a cat. Rowing back up the street was taxing, and I know J im ’s arm s were bulging beneath his shirt. Fi nally, we reached shallow wa ter and I jumped out to help push us back to land. The city p o lice can in e unit (in sid e joke) showed up and trans ported our refugee and his animals to the “Bridge Street Lake" Motel for the night. After grabbing some din ner, Jim and I were assigned to help shuttle people and supplies across Bridge Street and did one more evacuation, from W ashington and B Street. It was quite a sight, one I will never forget, rowing down Vernonia’s streets un der the street lights. Jim and I were just two of many volunteers who helped on February 8th. My cousin, Dean Bernardi, helped peo ple out of houses with his boat; Jim Bergerson worked the Riverview area of town; Don Dailey used his Jet sled to pull people from more dan gerous sections of the river and, I’m sure, th e re w ere plenty more. One of the real heroes was the helicopter pi lot who lifted 19 people from the roofs of their homes. One of the unsung heroes was Mario Leonetti, a volunteer firefighter on board that heli copter to help spot, and as sist in loading people onto the helicopter from the roof tops. Mario said it was quite an ex perience to jump onto a wet shingle roof while a helicopter was shaking the heck out of it (From now on I'm going to re fer to Mario as “The Flying Leonetti”.). The men at GTE put on a heroic and success ful effort to save our local phone service, keeping two pumps going all afternoon and all night to keep the cir cuits dry. Two more volunteer firefighters, Kevin Roberts and Gene Weller, delivered the second pump by boat late Thursday and, I can say from experience, it took consider able nerve to m aneuver a boat so close to the raging river. By late afternoon Thurs day, when Rock Creek divid ed the town, a decision was made to split fire and medic personnel and equipment so there would be some protec tion on both sides. The per sonnel in the Incident Com mand Center deserve real re spect; it takes a great deal of self restraint to sit inside a building all day and night and direct the troops in the field. It is human nature to want to be where the action is, especial ly for people who have years of experience. But somebody had to direct and control the workforce in order to avoid VALLEY VETERINARY CLINIC R A B IE S SPECIAL $£50 Dogs & Cats 2nd & 4th Thursdays at Vernonia Next to Sunnyside Deli, 58360 Nehalem Hwy. S. SfrFvicfi Pirpclo rv t h e N E W WAY MOVING & STORAGE DOG GROOM ING BEFORE 1 -8 0 0 -5 7 0 -5 2 9 6 World W ide Movers Q AFTER 540 Milton Way St. Helens, OR 97051 K N e h a le m V a lle y S a n it a r y S e r v ic e M e y e r's A u to B o d y Residential - Commercial Special Pickup -1 & 2 Yard Containers Transfer Station Open 2nd & 4th Sat-10-4 Owner BY APPOINTMENT ONLY R e c y c lin g - A ll K in d s 419-6300 C a ll f o r I n f o r m a t i o n : 4 2 9 -8 7 1 1 Mayflower Transit Agency C ommercial 1 R esidential Nehalem Valley Construction Co. Free Estimates S e rvin g A ll o f the N e h a le m Valley (503) 429-8970 New Construction • Remodeling • Additions S ven S andstrom P ainting Licensed • Bonded • Insured • CCB #109576 56126 McDonald Rd., Vernonia, OR 97064 FREE ESTIMATES A 90 Tftl1 ! If New Construction • Remodeling Concrete • Masonry Decks • Kitchens • Bathrooms Fences and Block Walls * 4 2 9 -0 2 4 8 iSfe# WC TAKE THC D C N T IO U T O f J ACCIDENTS 493 Bridge Street nwrtz, Vernonia, OR 97064 PAT'S SEPTIC SERVICE S e p t ic T a n k P u m p i n g 1 - 8 0 0 - Q .5 3 - 4 6 3 2 - M A C K P L U M B IN G New Construction • Remodels • Repairs ftt» GARY MEYER v / K - i f - . > 4 SENIOR DISCOUNTS David Scharf • Bonded & Insured • CCB #108923 MILTON D ENN IS C O N STR U C TIO N chaos. Many of the people in the Command Center were awestruck when they were fi nally able to view the high water. Listening to radio re ports is not the same as ex periencing it. You p ro ba bly n o tice d I talked a lot about eating. Let me te ll you, when y o u ’ re working hard, it takes a tot of fuel and the volunteers at the fire station had plenty. Having Nannette Leonetti was like having Betty Crocker in our sta tio n , she cooked up a storm. My mother also slaved away in the kitchen and made sure all the volunteers were w e ll-fe d . M any people brought food to the station for us. I feel lucky to live in a town like Vernonia, for as we all know, when the going gets tough we all pull together to overcome the obstacle before us. I think this flood will only strengthen our community. I wish everybody a speedy recovery from th is disaster and I want to extend a very big pat on the back to Ver nonia’s fire and medic per sonnel and to all the other “charge ahead” volunteers, for a job very well done. (5 0 3 ) 4 2 9 -0 1 9 0 ST. HELENS ALL STAR TREE SERVICE Precision Cutting, Stump Grinding, Tree Removal, Lot Clearing, Chipping, Pruning Firewood • 24-Hour Emergency Service 4 2 9 -0 9 0 7 • 2 4 4 - 2 3 9 7 ( % & - ilme Io remodel V ic to r W . Mack LICENSED A BONDED • CCB#81739 2 6 0 - 8 7 1 4 M o b ile CCB #105364 (5 0 3 ) 4 2 9 -2 1 8 1 1222 Ruth Avenue, Vernonia OR 97064 CCB #68438 Licensed • Bonded • Insured RON DODGE i Sj Tj c
