As most of you know, Governor Brown declared a state of emergency Wednesday
pertaining to the winter storm that occurred Tuesday. Counties that have
declared disasters locally include Multnomah, Marion, Malheur, and Crook. The
last several days saw 16,000 customers across Oregon without power; as of this
morning that's been reduced to 5,000. The storm caused many transportation
interruptions, including EMS, though as of this morning most have been resolved.
* Crook County is reporting issues of getting snow plowed and cleared,
especially from storm drains.
* Deschutes County has reports of 60" of snow in the southwest portion
of their county. They are also having issues getting storm drains cleared. They
have reports of 11 building failures due to snow load, and have heard there are
residences with structural issues (no damage assessments performed yet).
* Malheur County also has structural damage to some buildings from snow
load, including their DHS building. The City of Ontario is experiencing
flooding from the Snake River due to ice jams.
* Multnomah County reports over 500 citizens using warming shelters,
and continuing disruptions to their power grid. The biggest issue in Portland
involves abandoned vehicles on their roadways and finding deicer for their
streets.
* Washington County reports the same issues as Multnomah, plus they
have one building collapse from snow load.
* Marion County had issues getting some towns plowed out. They also
have citizens using warming shelters.
I have spoken with agencies in northern Klamath County and have no reports of
major issues or structural damages at this time. Several people in the
Crescent/Gilchrist area estimate 4' of snow there, and issues getting all roads
cleared (private drives and roads). The break in the weather will hopefully
help them catch up.
Future Weather Outlook: Another weather pattern is expected to dump lots of
rain across most of Oregon middle of next week, and most in Western and
Northern Oregon are concerned with potential flooding and runoff issues. We
will also get rain in Klamath County, but many storm drains are now clear and
ditches have emptied in the Southern portion of the county, so it will
hopefully not affect us much. It might be a different story in North County,
and we will continue to monitor the situation.
Process: Counties that request public assistance for their disaster
declarations must meet monetary thresholds for damages, based on their
populations (ours is over $236,000). The state must also meet an overall
threshold. Meeting those thresholds allows the state to get federal
reimbursement for the documented damages. This is why the Governor declared the
emergency - no one can get reimbursed without it.
Feel free to send me any questions, should you have them. Enjoy the sunny
weekend!
Morgan Lindsay
Klamath County Emergency Management
2543 Shasta Way, Klamath Falls, OR 97603
541-851-3741 Office
541-281-8357 Cell
