Posted on 02/04/2008 4:42:28 AM PST by justa-hairyape
In Idahna, Ore., there is so much snow, residents' roofs are starting to collapse. The mayor has requested that Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski declare the area a state of emergency and send help.
Eighteen inches of snow fell in the last 24 hours on top to 6 feet of snow already there, Idahna Mayor Karen Clark said Sunday.
There is literally nowhere to put the snow.
"We have buildings with snow on them in danger of collapsing. Snow around doors in danger of bursting, some homes have already sustained damage," Clark said.
The town does not have the resources to deal with so much snow, according to the mayor.
Oregon State Corrections sent inmates in to help, but they need heavy equipment to get the snow off of road ways and homes.
“We are out of room and snow plowing money so are in danger of having to suspend snow plowing of the streets. Our citizens have now become in imminent danger as a result. We are also concerned about the citizens of Marion County that are out of our city limits and we are unable to help," Clark said.
"We are asking the Governor of Oregon for an immediate Declaration of State of Emergency and the National Guard to come in with heavy equipment.”
Heavy snow in recent days shut down interstates and state highways in Oregon and Washington, closed dozens of schools, stranded snowmobilers and backcountry adventurers and -- maybe most dangerous of all -- established conditions that could lead to significant flooding if the region gets a quick thaw and heavy rain.
We had a blizzard here in CT in 78 too and it took the National Guard and huge payloaders to clear us out. We were stuck for 4 days, BUT we didn’t have more snowfall right behind the blizzard.
When my brother lived in upstate NY, he said they had to do that weekly. Load up the dump trucks with the payloaders and toss it all in the finger lakes.
These people are in for a tough haul.
Are the ones in the area significantly above normal yearly snowfalls?
Yes, agreed - it will take much help from the military asap to make any inroads in this situation - which appears to be a real disaster in the making right now.
Surely, we as a country can get these emergency actions going!
Took a look at Marion Forks. When the snow depth gets over 100 inches, the number shows up as -99.9 . Marion Forks is near Detroit which has 13 feet of snow.
http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/wygraph.pl?stationidname=21E04S-MARION+FORKS&state=OR
It does not look significantly higher than normal.
Higher for this time of year, but lower than normal for the whole year. Why are they already out of money for a seasonal budget?
If Rain Comes? Wonder how long that Oregonian Staff writter has been living in the Northwest. This is the Pacific Northwest - Rains will come and that 160+% of normal snowpack is going to go someplace.
Yes, you are correct. They had misspelled it. Just found it on a paper travel map I have here.
The town asking for help and declaring an emergency is Idanha, Oregon. Located east of Detroit Oregon on 22. Please note, state officials are advising NO traveling into these areas.
Yikes. Idanha is located just north of Coffin Mountain. Wow.
I think they were referring to, if rain came early and stronger then normal.
That said, I was amazed by what I saw in Michigan back in the early ‘90’s. We went there to ski Indianhead Mountain and the roads were canyons with 20 foot walls. Unbelievable!
I never could figure out how they piled snow up that high.
Perhaps it was not piled :>
Hard to believe journalists get paid to cover a town in their state and they can’t even spell it correctly.
Transfer money out of the Global Warming Fund or some of the other 50 + budget items that are not as important.
And before it runs off, the snow will absorb the water and weigh 5X more than it does now.
It was an amazing experience how they kept the roads open, just saying.
When I lived in California I was amazed hearing about some of the snowfall totals in the Sierras. We would have a strong rain storm in the bay area and they would report 12 feet of snow in a single storm. I grew up in a semi-snowy area, but the thought of 12 feet falling in the course of 4 hours just boggled my mind.
I can see how the Donner party got trapped.
We’d go riding our motorcycles in the Sierras and some of the passes were still closed in late May because of all the snow. Some don’t open till late May early June.
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