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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2006)
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid Vernonia, OR 97064 Permit No. 37 “Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” Vol. 21, No. 3 It wasn’t close… Heavy rains remind area residents of disastrous flood of Feb. 8, 1996 By Noni Andersen Because I could not get to Mist for six days after the flood, this article is about the Flood of ’96 in Vernonia, with few refer- ences to elsewhere. Please see the related article for a re- cap from Mist and Birkenfeld. Above: The horse arena at Anderson Park on February 8, 1996. Below: The same area on January 30, 2006, after nearly 4.5 inches of rain fell in four days. System, service improvements mean lower fire insurance rates Results of a survey by Insur- ance Services Office (ISO), of the Vernonia Fire District and the City of Vernonia, found that improvements to services in Vernonia will reduce the cost of fire insurance in the area. A let- ter to the Fire District and the City indicated that changes to area insurance rates will take effect in January, 2006. Vernonia Rural Fire District Chief Paul Epler recommends that residents contact their in- surance agents to see what the new classification cost benefits will be. “I have been told by one Vernonia resident that the sav- ings on their home was around $80.00 per year,” said Chief Epler. “The major improve- ments are due to the Fire Dis- trict’s newer fire fighting equip- ment and the City of Vernonia’s water system upgrades.” Another improvement is the new radio system for Columbia County 9-1-1. While none of these improvements were free, Please see page 4 February 2, 2006 Ten years ago, on February 8, 1996, there was massive flooding in Oregon and Wash- ington. The upper Nehalem Valley was devastated; 60 per- cent of the homes in Vernonia and more than 80 percent of the homes in Mist and Birken- feld were flooded, some with as much as four to six feet of wa- ter. Everyone was affected, whether their homes were flooded or not, because these communities were cut off from the rest of the world. State Highway 47 was wiped out in several places – south of Ver- nonia, between Vernonia and Mist, between Mist and Clat- skanie. Slides and/or culvert failures destroyed part of state Highway 202 between Birken- feld and Jewell, parts of the Scappoose-Vernonia Highway, and Apiary Road. Telephones were useless in rural areas and for all calls outside of Vernonia. The only reliable means of communication was radio. There was flooding through- out the northwest but, locally, a series of weather conditions combined to allow massive flooding: It had been cold enough, long enough to freeze the earth fairly deep and sever- al feet of snow sat on the frozen ground, effectively insu- lating the ground, instead of melting and being absorbed into the earth. This was fol- lowed by the Pineapple Ex- press – warm rains carried by a jet stream from the South Pacif- ic. The amount of rainfall wouldn’t have caused flooding without the frozen ground and the snow pack. Since heavy precipitation is normal in this area, few people thought a dis- aster was imminent. Vernonia Fire department volunteers put markers in the river and monitored them regu- larly. Wednesday afternoon, February 7, the water stopped rising and even went down some. Most people thought the worst had passed. They were wrong. The fire department decided to have a skeleton crew moni- tor the river overnight and sent the other firefighters and medics home for some sleep, knowing that long hours of duty would be required if the water started rising again. Well, it did rise again, very rapidly, and vol- unteers started responding to their pagers about 3:00 a.m. Low-lying areas were flood- ed and evacuations were un- derway. By 3:30 a.m., police of- ficers were driving through ar- eas of town warning people to evacuate. Many long-time resi- dents thought it was unneces- sary because they had seen flooding over the years and Please see page 14 Interim superintendent is experienced administrator At a special meeting on Jan- uary 26, the Vernonia School District board of directors ap- proved the contract and selec- tion of Dr. Albert Davidian as the interim superintendent. Dr. Davidian was one of four candi- dates interviewed for the inter- im position, which will run from February 1 through June 30, 2006. Davidian, a doctoral gradu- ate of the University of Illinois, most recently served as interim superintendent at the Camas School District for the 2004- 2005 school year. Prior to that, Davidian was the superintend- ent at North Marion School Dis- trict from 1996 to July, 2003. North Marion District has 1,800 children but is similar to Ver- nonia with all three schools, K- 5, 6-8, 9-12, on one campus. Davidian comes to Vernonia with a wealth of experience in budgeting, bond levies, con- tract negotiating, and in facili- tating educational improve- Dr. Albert Davidian ments. “My goal is to work hard over the next five months to meet the needs of this education system and carry out the needs of the board; to develop the budget, help with labor negotia- tions, finish the middle school building, and handle all the nor- mal activities of the school year. I want to have a clean desk, everything running well Please see page 21
