Published: Thursday, December 6, 2007
Phones, power slow to return in Oregon
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Associated Press
Residents of Vernonia, Ore., stack flood-damaged belongings in a growing trash heap near the center of town on Wednesday. With the blistering winds gone and rainfall back to normal, Oregonians on the coast and in the Coast Range were sorting through the damage from one of the worst Oregon storms in recent memory.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The damage that tandem storms caused to power and phone lines along the Oregon coast was worse than initially thought, but progress was reported.
Qwest said Wednesday night it had completed repairs on its main fiber-optic system on the north coast, restoring telephone, high-speed Internet and other services.
But spokesman Bob Gravley said some work such as reconnecting individual residences remains to be done.
Other recovery continued apace. Cell-phone service was being restored. People left shelters, with the Red Cross reporting about 370 remaining Tuesday night.
Highways continued to reopen, but U.S. 26 remained closed in its western reach, and Highway 38, the Umpqua Highway, was closed from Reedsport to Elkton due to a landslide.
In Clatsop County, where about 23,000 Pacific Power remained without power, utility crews found damage to a major transmission line was more extensive than thought, said Doug Johnson, spokesman for the Bonneville Power Administration.
Pacific Power said service may not be restored until Thursday or Friday and was installing a two-megawatt generator at Cannon Beach to provide power in the meantime.
South of Clatsop County the Tillamook People's Utility District reported about 11,000 of its 19,000 customers still without power on Wednesday.
Inland, Red Cross relief workers, state officials and prison inmates converged on Vernonia, a Coast Range timber town that was overwhelmed by fast-rising floodwater on Monday and Tuesday.
Townspeople were tossing their damaged household goods onto an impromptu dump in the middle of town. By midday, it was several carlengths long.
The inmates, two work crews, were sent by the state Department of Corrections to help with the cleanup, said Dave Cassel, chief of Oregon Emergency Management.
Some landline telephone service had been restored, and a Federal Emergency Management Agency mobile communications truck was assisting with cell phone service, he said.
Verizon said it was restoring landline service and bringing in a 42-foot portable cell tower that would serve both its customers and those of competitors who have agreements with Verizon.
Rietta Behnke, owner of a boutique card and gift shop, said neighbors are working together to clean up because "it's kind of a small town thing."
"It's really physical work for the most part right now," she said. "so you just go with your boots, your shovels and your rubber gloves and clean up the mud. It's just a messy dirty job."
An aide to Gov. Ted Kulongoski said the state would ask for a federal disaster declaration, and make the request formal by Thursday.
"Even though we don't have all the details to what the costs will be, the governor wants to get the request in and get on the radar screen of the federal government and the president and provide them the details as they are found out," said Lonn Hoklin, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Administrative Services.
The Oregonian on its Web site identified the second of two fatalities from the storms as 54-year-old Theresa Hurliman of Nehalem. She was presumed drowned after her swamped pickup was swept away by high water.
The other victim was Doris Hart, 90, of Tillamook, who died of a heart attack.
Qwest said Wednesday night it had completed repairs on its main fiber-optic system on the north coast, restoring telephone, high-speed Internet and other services.
But spokesman Bob Gravley said some work such as reconnecting individual residences remains to be done.
Other recovery continued apace. Cell-phone service was being restored. People left shelters, with the Red Cross reporting about 370 remaining Tuesday night.
Highways continued to reopen, but U.S. 26 remained closed in its western reach, and Highway 38, the Umpqua Highway, was closed from Reedsport to Elkton due to a landslide.
In Clatsop County, where about 23,000 Pacific Power remained without power, utility crews found damage to a major transmission line was more extensive than thought, said Doug Johnson, spokesman for the Bonneville Power Administration.
Pacific Power said service may not be restored until Thursday or Friday and was installing a two-megawatt generator at Cannon Beach to provide power in the meantime.
South of Clatsop County the Tillamook People's Utility District reported about 11,000 of its 19,000 customers still without power on Wednesday.
Inland, Red Cross relief workers, state officials and prison inmates converged on Vernonia, a Coast Range timber town that was overwhelmed by fast-rising floodwater on Monday and Tuesday.
Townspeople were tossing their damaged household goods onto an impromptu dump in the middle of town. By midday, it was several carlengths long.
The inmates, two work crews, were sent by the state Department of Corrections to help with the cleanup, said Dave Cassel, chief of Oregon Emergency Management.
Some landline telephone service had been restored, and a Federal Emergency Management Agency mobile communications truck was assisting with cell phone service, he said.
Verizon said it was restoring landline service and bringing in a 42-foot portable cell tower that would serve both its customers and those of competitors who have agreements with Verizon.
Rietta Behnke, owner of a boutique card and gift shop, said neighbors are working together to clean up because "it's kind of a small town thing."
"It's really physical work for the most part right now," she said. "so you just go with your boots, your shovels and your rubber gloves and clean up the mud. It's just a messy dirty job."
An aide to Gov. Ted Kulongoski said the state would ask for a federal disaster declaration, and make the request formal by Thursday.
"Even though we don't have all the details to what the costs will be, the governor wants to get the request in and get on the radar screen of the federal government and the president and provide them the details as they are found out," said Lonn Hoklin, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Administrative Services.
The Oregonian on its Web site identified the second of two fatalities from the storms as 54-year-old Theresa Hurliman of Nehalem. She was presumed drowned after her swamped pickup was swept away by high water.
The other victim was Doris Hart, 90, of Tillamook, who died of a heart attack.
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