PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 22, No. 23
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Vernonia floods after 10
inches of rain in 24 hours
Flood of 2007
Peter O’Leary’s mail truck got bogged down in flood waters on the corner of Grant Ave.
and North St. and had to be towed out by Curt Bernal’s truck.
Flood of 2007 hits Mist and Birkenfeld
Residents in the Mist,
Birkenfeld and Fishhawk Lake
areas are still digging out after
more than 10 inches of rain
caused devastating floods on
December 3. Approximately
half of the homes in the area
were flooded.
Disaster victims have been
helped by the National Guard,
state prison inmates, and “tons
of volunteers” residents said.
To help get supplies to those in
need, the Red Cross has or-
ganized a Distribution Center
through the M-B Main Fire Sta-
tion and Birkenfeld Community
Church
Other fire districts – Banks,
Columbia River, Scappoose,
Tualatin Valley and more –
have sent equipment and per-
sonnel so M-B could get some
rest or so those whose homes
were flooded could start work
on their own recovery.
Community spirit is strong,
as evidenced by a full turkey
dinner hosted last night by the
Natal Grange.
Alternative heating methods can carry health risks
Public health officials in the
Oregon Department of Human
Services are warning that burn-
ing alternative fuels in homes
and using gas generators for
back-up electricity is danger-
ous.
Community Meeting
The next community
meeting will be Saturday,
December 15, at 700 p.m. at
Washington Grade School.
FEMA representatives will be
on hand to answer ques-
tions.
December 13, 2007
It is not safe to burn alterna-
tive fuels inside the house
(such as barbeques, hibachis,
stoves, or camp stoves that use
gasoline, kerosene, propane,
diesel, charcoal). If you use a
gas generator for back-up elec-
tricity, locate it away from the
house and from any attached
garage to avoid toxic fumes en-
tering the home.
These devices produce car-
bon monoxide, a colorless,
odorless and lethal gas that
can build up in enclosed or
semi-enclosed spaces. If peo-
ple breathe too much of the
gas, they are poisoned be-
cause red blood cells pick up
carbon monoxide faster and
hang on to it tighter than they
do oxygen. Thus, red blood
cells are unable to carry oxy-
gen to the tissues in the body
leading to tissue damage and
death.
Health officials advise:
• Never use any kind of
gasoline, kerosene, propane,
natural gas or charcoal burning
device inside your home or
Please see page 15
Over 10 inches of rain fell on
Vernonia and the surrounding
area in less than 24 hours,
starting on Sunday, December
2, and causing extensive flood-
ing. Many people left town the
morning of December 3 before
it became apparent that the
area was flooding and then
couldn’t return after high wa-
ters closed Highway 47 and the
Scappoose/Vernonia Highway
by about noon.
By about 1:00 p.m. the town
of Vernonia was bisected by
high waters from Rock Creek
flowing over Bridge Street at
Adams Avenue. Shelters were
set up on both sides of Rock
Creek by volunteers sent out
from the Incident Operation
Center at the Vernonia Rural
Fire District offices. Volunteers
with boats and trucks went out
on rescue missions.
Fire Chief Paul Epler and
Vernonia Police Sergeant Mike
Kay directed operations for the
first two days, assisted by
many volunteers. The Oregon
State Fire Marshal, as emer-
gency procedures dictate,
came in and took over the Op-
erations Center at 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday.
The first shelters were set
up at St. Mary’s Catholic
Church, Cedar Ridge and Lin-
coln Grade School. It has been
estimated that 200 people
spent the night in the shelters
the first night, and that 40-60
were still staying at the shelter
at Cedar Ridge on Monday,
December 10.
Food was removed from
Vernonia Middle School by vol-
unteers, some wading through
hip high water to put it in trucks,
to take to Cedar Ridge so a
community kitchen could be
opened.
Then the power and phones
went out. West Oregon Electric
Cooperative’s office flooded
and so did both Vernonia sub-
stations. Luckily, the weather
was unseasonably warm due
to the tropical nature of the
storm that hit this area with
rain, and hit the coast with high
winds. Cell phones became the
only mode of remote communi-
cation, other than the ham ra-
dios that were being manned
by volunteers at the Fire Hall.
The waters were still rising
when the sun went down Mon-
day and did not crest until
around 11:00 p.m. By about
2:00 a.m. December 4, high
trucks could again get across
town.
When morning came and
the roads were once again
open, the extent of the flooding
and damage could be clearly
seen. Hawkins Park and the
school grounds had bleachers
in odd places, even one on the
Linear Trail near the bridge to
Anderson Park. Anderson Park
had asphalt pieces picked up
and moved totally off the road-
way and a car was stuck in
trees over Bear Creek. The wa-
ter was still deep on Bridge
Street in front of the Senior
Center, Country Kitchen, and
Please see page 5
EDITOR’S NOTE:
We apologize for this late issue and are sorry for any
information that is missing or incorrect. Like so many
homes and businesses in the Vernonia area, our office
received extensive damage on December 3 from flood
waters and mud. This caused a loss of information and a
delay in publishing. We expect to be back on schedule for
the December 20 issue, with the deadline for submissions
being Friday, December 14.
We regret any inconvenience this delay may have caused.