NW Storm

[Shari]

Is good to hear from you Susanne and very glad everyone is ok!

 

[nootka]

It's good to hear from you susanne, I hope you continue to stay safe.

Vernonia looks awful, what a MESS!!!

Martin wanted to go to Longview today, but I dont' think I want to from what I've heard from our friend in the east part of the county.

Take care...

Liz

 

[Equuisize]

There's Susanne! Glad to hear you are all OK.

Michael headed up to Olympia, to a grocery store and stopped at the

latte stand he enjoys. He says so much has changed,

for the worse, since we last were out on Monday.

The water is up to the freeway (hiway 12) and so much

more has gone under water....

This was certainly a storm of epic proportions and it

will be a long time before this is cleaned up.

Our PUD reported there was still 27,000 people without

power in Grays Harbor County.

Actually Michael just called while I was typing this and said

the hiway to Olympia was open and the grocery store was

full of food.

The Ranch Restaurant they spoke about on the National news

is a sad sight, he said. The dining room was swept away.

Only problem on the road was a shavings semi had flipped on the

exit of hiway 8 and hiway 12 but he's hoping that will be cleaned

up by the time he arrives at that portion of the road. Said he

wished he taken the truck as they were scooping the dumped shavings

into trucks and we're low

after keeping the kids stalled for

3 days.....

And it's not raining and that is the good news!!!

 

[Crabby-Chicken]

Hey Has Rori checked in???I hope I just missed her post.

 

[nootka]

I went out to visit some friends today since I was so bored after Martin left to go fishing.

I came back and my Miniature Horse World was in my mail box..finally!!!!the Oct/Nov edition which took over two months to get to me. It is beautiful, though, and I will enjoy it later while riding my exercise bike when the darkness comes and the cold is settling in.

Making pot stickers in the basement on the old cookstove (we made bread in the little oven last night...just like my great grandma did on the plains of KS...whoohoo I'm a real frontier woman now).

L.

 

[Shari]

That sounds really good Liz!

We were supposed to go to the military base this weekend...but with I-5 still closed... not going to happen. Pictures are impressive on the TV and scary.

 

[Lynne360]

Hi All,

I finally have my internet connection back on.

Nancy,

I am so thankful that you guys are OK. Mike and I were really worried after seeing all the reports of the Elma area. Not too bad here, just downed trees and lots of standing water.

Take care,

Lynne

 

[Bluerocket]

Glad to hear you folk are ok --- pretty amazing pictures --

 

[Equuisize]

Fortunately those of us that have checked in are in fairly good shape.

It's the ones that are in the flooded out areas that need our prayers.

Anything you see on National TV multiply a 1000 times, to make

it equal to what it looks like in real time.

It hurts my heart for the thousands of people affected.

Oh I've also heard from Jim Guerin in Yelm and he's OK, too.

Anyone heard from Tracy at Flying G in Eatonville And her family

Country Rose in Tacoma area.......

We'll hope they are OK..seems some areas escaped without much problem.

 

[MountainMeadows]

Tracy, Vince & all the critters are OK - not sure about her folks - LOTS of mud tho!

I too am wondering how Rori is doing - she is smack dab in the middle of all of it also.

Stacy

 

[Equuisize]

Hay Kari, I see you are on..How's things down in Raymond......????

You guys all safe?

If someone knows where Rory is or knows contact info - Michael

and I would go check on her..... We are happy to help anyone...

so many helped us out last year when we were flooded out.

There are still roads blocked..... If any of you know Bev Smith

of Rocky Butte Ranch that relocated here from Eastern Washington,

they are OK, they got power this morning. We were plenty worried as

they were to head this way for showers and never showed up....their

phones went out and their cells died.....she has her 93 year old Mom

that lives with them but they are fine just locked in by water over the

roadways, even though they live high on a hill.

 

[Kari]

I'll never take light and heat for granted again. Three and a half days without either.... *shudder*

We're ok.

When you have 10 acres of trees, wind gusts of 100 MPH are NOT good. It sounded as if the world was being ripped apart around us the entire night of Dec. 2nd. And really, it was. We woke to devastation. Approx. 40 of our trees were down, some uprooted but most broke in half like they were toothpicks. Every fence on our place, save ONE, has trees on it. My brother had to take the chainsaw and clear a path so our neighbors could get down the hill (we live at the bottom of a hill, with our trees behind us and bordering the road). A BIG thanks to God, though, as none of our trees fell on important buildings or any animals. The horses were locked up in the barn, the dogs and cats in the house. Many other people had it much worse.

Anyone who had trees on their property had trees down. Some had trees on their roofs, some have NO roof. There was massive flooding, windows blown out, water damage galore, deaths, and many roads closed due to mudslides, bridges being out, and power poles and/or trees across the road and/or water deep enough to swim in. And this is just how Pacific County fared. Neighboring counties, such as Lewis and Grays Harbor had it much worse.

From Dec. 2nd to the 5th we (along with everyone else in our community) had no power. Some still don't. There were trees on virtually all the power lines. Instead of the delicious lasagna, garlic bread, and salad my mother and brothers were making for dinner on my birthday (the 3rd) we grilled burgers and played Chickenfoot. We had no heat, either!! In the dead of winter!! We HAD a fireplace, emphasis on had, as we took it out to replace it in August and it’s still being worked on. So, I probably drank more alcohol over those four days then I have in the past year. Strictly to keep warm, you understand. That’s the only reason. Really.

Perhaps the worst part of it all was how we were so completely cut off from the world. All the roads in and out of Raymond were closed for at least 24 hours. Some were able to get to Olympia and Portland by the 4th, but they had to take detours far out of their way. We saw quite a few helicopters on the 4th, also, and rumor was it was the National Guard and the Governor of WA, bringing generators, help, and declaring us a Disaster Area. We hooked up a landline, and were able to make and receive local calls most of the time. Our cell phones sometimes worked, usually not. I found, however, that text messages could get through most of the time. Yipee!!! So, I made sure some friends around the NW were okay.

So glad others have made it ok, but I'm worried about Rori!!!!!!

Kari

 

[Flyin G Farm]

I'm so glad to hear everyone is doing OK...well...at least as good as can be expected. We were very fortunate and just have a lot of water...and now mud. We don't have many trees actually on our property so we were OK there...the horses are all fine. Country Rose (my MIL) is fine as well...same thing...lots of water/mud but all of the horses are just fine.

If anyone needs any help with anything...we're only about 45 minutes or so from where I-5 is shut down...let us know!

Tracy

 

[MountainMeadows]

Wow Kari - that is so scary - we had it last year - lost a bunch of trees and like you said, they just snapped in 2 - some actually got twisted like it was a tornado or something. I am really glad that we used New Zealand fencing on most of our perimeter and some of our interior fences because all we needed to do was cut the part of the tree off that was on the fence and it popped back into place. Of course when the trees to come down at our place it is ALWAYS on a gate OH! ! We were out of power for over 2 weeks and a LONG hot shower really felt good when we were finally able to get one - those quickie baths from water heated up on the woodstove are pretty marginal! Our generator crapped out about midway, but we were lucky and were able to borrow one - but we really need to get it replaced before this year's seasonal blackouts.

Anyway, glad that you are all OK - lots of work ahead of you - I can so relate

Stacy

 

[Crabby-Chicken]

Yes I am still worried about Rory... I am not sure where she lives, isn't it in Porter?

Dorthy or Nancy,,,, how is the little feed store in Elma on 2nd street??? They are such nice people. Hope all is well.

 

[Equuisize]

Kim,

We haven't been back up to downtown Elma for a couple days but the downtown was fine.

I think Ron, at the feed store, should be fine....it's away from the river.

Del's here in Montesano had water up to their back wall facing the freeway.

Now if Rori is in Porter that could be a problem......the latest weather update I got this AM extended the flood warnings for the Porter area thru late this afternoon....The problem being a high incoming tide was going to slow down the drainage... To be optimistic, there are lots hilly areas around there. We looked at some property there this summer before settling on where we are at, now.

Loren & Rocky have not checked back in either since the flooded area increased.....anyone know about them?

 

[Kari]

Some pictures from around Raymond...

My grandma's house.. some of the windows are blown out, too.

We had to drive under that in order to get to town. It stayed like that for about 32 hours, as there were many more important things to be done.

One corner of one of my poor fields.

Didn't need that building anyway........

Kari

 

[nootka]

Wow, Kari, I know some of those places you posted pics of. Glad you are all ok and merely have some cleaning up to do.

Same here.

It's a real mess around here w/the winds.

It went on for about 48 hours, and just now the roads are open into the inland areas to get supplies in here.

Your 3.5 days...pffttt...we did 6 days last year right before Christmas, and this year, I think we'll be lucky to have power in two weeks, because the damage is much more widespread and more intense this time around.

I do hope Rori checks in. I don't even think I have phone numbers anywhere to get ahold of her.

Liz

 

[Kari]

Ick... my heart goes out to all those still without power.

My uncle and a friend went to Portland on a generator-buying trip, but before he returned we had power!

Kari

 

[R Whiteman]

Ron just called Rory. She lives way up Porter Creek, well away from the floodwaters of the Chehalis. They are fine, but hadn't telephone until this morning. They are still without power. They were isolated by mud slides on Hwy 12 since that is the only way into town unless you go overland and then you deal with downed trees, but traffic is able to get through now at least on one lane.

Tonight we had dinner with the National Guard at the Rusty Tractor. It is odd, but comforting to have their presence here. We've had floods before, but having the Guard around in such large numbers is a testament to how damaging this storm was. That and the fact that 25,000 people in the county are still without power and the schools are closed again tomorrow for the fifth day.

Kim, the feed store is open and doing well. We picked up grain today. They were worried about the big trucks that deliver to them, but just before we arrived, their shipment came in from the south. Life and business goes on.

Dorothy