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
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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.
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