By Emily Gillespie

Reps for Oregon’s congressional leaders see flood aftermath

Representatives for members of Oregon’s congressional delegation joined Benton County and Corvallis officials Friday in a tour of places hardest-hit by last week’s flooding. 

Heavy rains began Jan. 17 and continued for two days — including a record-breaking 4.02 inches of rain that fell in the 24 hours before 8 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 19.

The rains resulted in a record flooding for the Marys River and flooding worse on the Alsea River than in the flood of 1996. In addition to inundated major roads, last week’s flood triggered landslides and sent trees toppling. One woman had to be rescued from the roof of her car when it was swept into a flooded creek near Monroe.

In Albany in neighboring Linn County, an 18-year-old mother and her 20-month-old son died Jan. 18 when the car in which they were riding was swept from a flooded parking lot into a creek. A 5-year-old boy who also was in the car remains in a coma in a Portland hospital.

The delegates made the tour so they could provide eyewitness accounts when seeking federal emergency funds back in Washington, D.C. What they saw made an impression.

“How did this one tree cause this much damage?” wondered Juine Chada, a field representative for U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, as she surveyed the flattened metal supports of the Harris Bridge between Wren and Blodgett. “That’s just astonishing.”

Field representatives for Sen. Wyden and Reps. Kurt Schrader and Peter DeFazio also attended the bus tour. Preliminary data of the damage to public and private property totals more than $10 million, according to county records.

The tour also drove through south Corvallis, which was cut off from the rest of the city Jan. 18 when Third Street was flooded, closing the street at the Highway 34 overpass just as people were trying to get home from work. Many simply parked downtown and walked.

“We’re looking to alleviate whatever problem caused that flooding,” said Mary Steckel, Corvallis’ interim public works director. She pointed out that south Corvallis’ only grocery store is the First Alternative Co-op, and there aren’t many detour options to connect neighborhoods with the rest of the city: “We need to keep those main arteries open.”

Steckel said the city is collaborating with the Oregon Department of Transportation to find a solution to the drainage systems in south Corvallis.

Most of the damage, however, happened in the county. Friday, nine sections of road remained closed by high water, and many fields and low-lying areas remained flooded.

Benton County Public Works Director Roger Irvin said that repairs to the Harris Bridge will cost an estimated $1.75 million. Repairs to Decker Road, which is limited to one lane near Neuman Road, will cost about $1 million.

On Rosewood Lane in the Vineyard Mountain area north of Corvallis, officials saw a two-story house that had slid off its foundation due to a landslide.

“A tree is what is basically keeping the house from going down the hill,” said Mary King, Benton County’s emergency program manager.

King said that the county’s landslide data is outdated. A more recent survey of the area showed it is susceptible to landslides. During the height of last week’s emergency, 22 residents in the area were evacuated because of landslide danger.

“We’re concerned about assisting these people on what they should do,” King said.

Rep. Schrader, who sent a field representative on the tour in his stead, said during a phone conversation later in the day that he was aware of Benton County’s plight.

“In the storm overall, (Corvallis) was ground zero,” Schrader said. “It was pretty devastating. Fortunately it was a milder version of 1996.”

Schrader said he could not attend the Benton County tour because he was on a tour of damage done to Marion County, which also was hard-hit. But once he assesses all the damage reports, Schrader said, he would work with Gov. John Kitzhaber to apply for federal assistance.

Schrader said he also wanted to take preventative action against future events.

“The data that define the flood plain is outdated. We need to update that material and understand what is going on underground,” he said. “We have an opportunity to learn from this and provide better flood control."

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