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It's Saturday. We're back in the light, alive, reasonably well, but we still need help
By PATRICK WEBB
The Daily Astorian
Saturday, December 08, 2007
The North Coast woke up to a brilliant sunny day Saturday. The storm is over; the clean-up is under way; the
healing has begun.
The headline in the special Saturday "EXTRA! EXTRA!" edition of The Daily Astorian in news racks was clear: "Hold
on, little baby, help is on the way." Below it was photographer Mark Rozin's poignant image of Ric Marley feeding
his six-week-old son, Elric, at the Camp Rilea Shelter while proud but distraught mom Misty Lesho looks on.
Life is going on here on the North Coast; there is some semblance of normalcy.
The communities down the coast and along the river need help. But we are also helping ourselves.
Seaside residents let out a cheer Friday when power was resumed. Manzanita, Wheeler and Nehalem - whose
residents had feared they might be the last to have electricity restored - went back on line during the day Friday.
Surf Pines was back with power at 6 p.m. Friday. Some parts of Cannon Beach, from downtown to Tolovana Park,
were back at 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
KMUN Radio continues to broadcast details of the storm and its aftermath on 91.9 FM, as well as its sister station,
89.5 KTCB in Tillamook. Newsman Dave Paul said Saturday morning that the giant tree that crashed into the
Tillicum House was removed Friday (See related story in Friday's Daily Astorian.)
"We still have no power," said Paul, whose station's news and music operation is still being powered by a
generator lovingly maintained by chief engineer Terry Wilson. "But they did remove the tree Friday," Paul added.
"They brought in a big steam shovel and grabbed hold of it and sawed it off."
KMUN news reported that Tillamook County Sheriff Todd Anderson said 90 percent of his county was enjoying
electricity, with only outlying rural areas still in the dark.
The Cannery Pier Hotel is playing host to an equal mix of Oregon Department of Transportation crews and locals
getting away from chilly homes. The chatter over the overstocked breakfast nook was all about the storm.
There are semblances of normalcy everywhere. The drive-through at the Astoria Burger King was doing a roaring
trade in breakfasts. The neon sign at Josephson's Smokehouse was shining "open," for those North Coast
delicacies you can only get there.
As a chill breeze ruffled the Columbia River into tiny whitecaps, the rusty red-and-black grain freighter COS Orchid
passed under the Astoria Bridge at about 9 a.m., having crossed the Pacific from Huanpu, China, en route for the
Port of Portland. The Northwest's connection to the rest of the world is intact; commerce continues.
In its wake, a 38-foot fishing vessel owned by David B. Hubbard of Astoria chugged out of the Port of Astoria pier
and headed east.
That vessel's name is CFV Katrina.
On the North Coast after our big storm, life goes on, with all its ironies.
Patrick Webb is managing editor of The Daily Astorian.
E-mail your storm stories, details of unsung heroes, as well as notes about the bad stuff, to
pwebb@dailyastorian.com
The newspaper welcomes photos from readers. Please include your name, caption information including when and
where the photo was taken, and names and hometowns of anyone pictured. Please be selective. Don't send us all
27 photos you have taken (unless you have a Sasquatch assisting ODOT with tree removal). Pick the best two or
three, otherwise you will overload our computers and we won't be able to bring you the news.
© 2007 The Daily Astorian
By PATRICK WEBB
The Daily Astorian
Saturday, December 08, 2007
The North Coast woke up to a brilliant sunny day Saturday. The storm is over; the clean-up is under way; the
healing has begun.
The headline in the special Saturday "EXTRA! EXTRA!" edition of The Daily Astorian in news racks was clear: "Hold
on, little baby, help is on the way." Below it was photographer Mark Rozin's poignant image of Ric Marley feeding
his six-week-old son, Elric, at the Camp Rilea Shelter while proud but distraught mom Misty Lesho looks on.
Life is going on here on the North Coast; there is some semblance of normalcy.
The communities down the coast and along the river need help. But we are also helping ourselves.
Seaside residents let out a cheer Friday when power was resumed. Manzanita, Wheeler and Nehalem - whose
residents had feared they might be the last to have electricity restored - went back on line during the day Friday.
Surf Pines was back with power at 6 p.m. Friday. Some parts of Cannon Beach, from downtown to Tolovana Park,
were back at 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
KMUN Radio continues to broadcast details of the storm and its aftermath on 91.9 FM, as well as its sister station,
89.5 KTCB in Tillamook. Newsman Dave Paul said Saturday morning that the giant tree that crashed into the
Tillicum House was removed Friday (See related story in Friday's Daily Astorian.)
"We still have no power," said Paul, whose station's news and music operation is still being powered by a
generator lovingly maintained by chief engineer Terry Wilson. "But they did remove the tree Friday," Paul added.
"They brought in a big steam shovel and grabbed hold of it and sawed it off."
KMUN news reported that Tillamook County Sheriff Todd Anderson said 90 percent of his county was enjoying
electricity, with only outlying rural areas still in the dark.
The Cannery Pier Hotel is playing host to an equal mix of Oregon Department of Transportation crews and locals
getting away from chilly homes. The chatter over the overstocked breakfast nook was all about the storm.
There are semblances of normalcy everywhere. The drive-through at the Astoria Burger King was doing a roaring
trade in breakfasts. The neon sign at Josephson's Smokehouse was shining "open," for those North Coast
delicacies you can only get there.
As a chill breeze ruffled the Columbia River into tiny whitecaps, the rusty red-and-black grain freighter COS Orchid
passed under the Astoria Bridge at about 9 a.m., having crossed the Pacific from Huanpu, China, en route for the
Port of Portland. The Northwest's connection to the rest of the world is intact; commerce continues.
In its wake, a 38-foot fishing vessel owned by David B. Hubbard of Astoria chugged out of the Port of Astoria pier
and headed east.
That vessel's name is CFV Katrina.
On the North Coast after our big storm, life goes on, with all its ironies.
Patrick Webb is managing editor of The Daily Astorian.
E-mail your storm stories, details of unsung heroes, as well as notes about the bad stuff, to
pwebb@dailyastorian.com
The newspaper welcomes photos from readers. Please include your name, caption information including when and
where the photo was taken, and names and hometowns of anyone pictured. Please be selective. Don't send us all
27 photos you have taken (unless you have a Sasquatch assisting ODOT with tree removal). Pick the best two or
three, otherwise you will overload our computers and we won't be able to bring you the news.
© 2007 The Daily Astorian