We went sledding on Mt Hood on Saturday. We got home at around 8:00pm, and I immediately put the sleds away. I knew the storm was on the way, so I took each of the vehicles and filled them with fuel. I also filled the last two empty gas cans in the garage. All told, I had 25 gallons of gas in gas cans, 20 gallons in the sleds, and 10 gallons in the ATVs. Both generators were full, and I had one ready in the doorway, all chained up, so Missy could simply wheel it out and fire it up.
Sunday morning was spent moving trailers around so the light sled trailer was hooked onto something heavy. I went to the hardware store and bought an extra 100 ft extension cord in case I had to run power to a neighbor for their freezer. Our furnace was already set up with plugs so it could be plugged into the generator. I also filled another 5 gallon can with diesel for the excavator, in case I had to yank a tree off of our (or someone else’s) house. At noon the phone rang. ODOT was calling me out to work because of trees falling on the roads. I spent most of the afternoon and evening clearing downed trees. At about 10:00pm a large tree fell on HWY 26, and we had to wait for about an hour and a half for the power company to come and ground the lines so we could safely cut the tree. I was only supposed to work until 11:00pm, and the night shift guys were stuck in line waiting for this tree we were trying to clear. Once the tree was cleared, we proceeded east on HWY 26 to the ODOT shop, 4 miles away. Then, all hell broke loose……..
The storm hit hard, knocking down tree after tree. I’m not sure how hard the wind was blowing, but I later found out that Ilwaco Washington had clocked wind that night at 137mph. It was pitch black, and we couldn’t see the trees that were falling until they hit. We would saw away like crazy and hide between the trucks when the really big gusts hit. At nearly 300lbs, I can honestly say that it was the first time I had ever been knocked down by wind. It took us four hours to cut our way to the shop. Once there, cold, wet, and tired, we hunkered down to wait for daylight. At around 7:00am we realized that the storm was only growing stronger. The big overhead doors were getting blown so hard that we thought they would be blown off their tracks. (Many doors in Astoria WERE blown in) We also realized that we might be stranded there for a long time without food, so we decided to make a break for it. Using our generator for power, we sharpened every saw and chain we had. We loaded all our gear into two trucks, and fired up the two biggest pieces of equipment we had, a backhoe and a loader. We slowly began cutting our way back west towards Seaside. The storm was still howling, but at least we could see the falling trees and try to avoid them. It took us nearly seven hours to cut and push our way 3 miles, where we met up with another crew that was cutting their way in to find us. Soaking wet and exhausted, we finally got back into Seaside at 3:00pm on Monday. I was out doing battle for 27 hours straight.
We’ve been working hard to get the roads open. We have been without power and phone for days. Thankfully, the Ham radio operators were able to get messages out to loved ones. We just got phones back up, but are still under generator power. We are safe and warm, and have plenty to eat. This storm has been something I will not soon forget.
Sunday morning was spent moving trailers around so the light sled trailer was hooked onto something heavy. I went to the hardware store and bought an extra 100 ft extension cord in case I had to run power to a neighbor for their freezer. Our furnace was already set up with plugs so it could be plugged into the generator. I also filled another 5 gallon can with diesel for the excavator, in case I had to yank a tree off of our (or someone else’s) house. At noon the phone rang. ODOT was calling me out to work because of trees falling on the roads. I spent most of the afternoon and evening clearing downed trees. At about 10:00pm a large tree fell on HWY 26, and we had to wait for about an hour and a half for the power company to come and ground the lines so we could safely cut the tree. I was only supposed to work until 11:00pm, and the night shift guys were stuck in line waiting for this tree we were trying to clear. Once the tree was cleared, we proceeded east on HWY 26 to the ODOT shop, 4 miles away. Then, all hell broke loose……..
The storm hit hard, knocking down tree after tree. I’m not sure how hard the wind was blowing, but I later found out that Ilwaco Washington had clocked wind that night at 137mph. It was pitch black, and we couldn’t see the trees that were falling until they hit. We would saw away like crazy and hide between the trucks when the really big gusts hit. At nearly 300lbs, I can honestly say that it was the first time I had ever been knocked down by wind. It took us four hours to cut our way to the shop. Once there, cold, wet, and tired, we hunkered down to wait for daylight. At around 7:00am we realized that the storm was only growing stronger. The big overhead doors were getting blown so hard that we thought they would be blown off their tracks. (Many doors in Astoria WERE blown in) We also realized that we might be stranded there for a long time without food, so we decided to make a break for it. Using our generator for power, we sharpened every saw and chain we had. We loaded all our gear into two trucks, and fired up the two biggest pieces of equipment we had, a backhoe and a loader. We slowly began cutting our way back west towards Seaside. The storm was still howling, but at least we could see the falling trees and try to avoid them. It took us nearly seven hours to cut and push our way 3 miles, where we met up with another crew that was cutting their way in to find us. Soaking wet and exhausted, we finally got back into Seaside at 3:00pm on Monday. I was out doing battle for 27 hours straight.
We’ve been working hard to get the roads open. We have been without power and phone for days. Thankfully, the Ham radio operators were able to get messages out to loved ones. We just got phones back up, but are still under generator power. We are safe and warm, and have plenty to eat. This storm has been something I will not soon forget.
