East of the
column, from the road that leads to the top of Coxcomb Hill, you can still see the results of Astoria's big storm that occurred on the night of December 2-3, 2007. There are a number of places around town where damage is evident, particularly downed trees at the top of the hill and on the east and south sides of town. It always saddens me to see the degradation of our beautiful forest, but it could have been worse. We were told to expect "hurricane force" gusts and high sustained winds. Even so, our area is not noted for hurricane-force winds and storm reports usually err on the intensive side. While some individuals and businesses taped their windows and stocked supplies, many did not. In the morning, the town was a mess, with light poles and signs damaged, but destruction apparently random. One business would have its plate glass shattered (taped or not), while the next sustained no damage (taped or not). They say the "Columbus Day Storm" in the 1960s was a bit stronger, and apparenlty Astoria gets one of these whopping gales about once every 20 to 40 years. I think the official term ended up being "gale." If it had been designated a "hurricane," many property owners would have been ineligible for insurance or government aid, as it DOES matter what they call the high winds that blew off your roof! Astorians do not typically insure for hurricanes, because we've never had one. I understand that our area has only been given the opportunity to designate high winds as a "hurricane" in the past few years. In other words, the terminology is regulated by some board, and even hurricane-force winds could not have been given the designation of "hurricane" until this area had approval for the designation.
I do need to get back to work, so I'm not going to research further. I gathered bits and pieces from the web, but did not find any one resource that made a good link. I do know that we were among the 27,000 who lost power for several days. I was running my online business just gearing up for a much-needed Christmas season, and after the storm, I set up a base with Internet at a hotel an hour east of here. Lee drove between me with my printer and web connection and our cold, dark, building in Astoria daily while he and Sue packed and shipped orders in the freezing dark with flashlights. It could have been worse for us, and these trees stand as a reminder. We are back to normal again, with some lost time, some discomfort, and a few lost dollars of revenue, while the trees will take decades or centuries to recover. It gave us a little taste of what some of you go through on a yearly basis. I also treasure photos like
this one showing the road to Coxcomb Hill in 2005. The forest is simply not as lush and full any more.
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Thursday Challenge: trees.
Think Green Thursday
July 23, 2010
We had a glorious blue-sky day yesterday, and I met Laurel, James, and my grandtapir, Teagan, at Coffee Girl. I hadn't been out to Pier 39 since before the storm of November 22. At the time I'd heard that the Sheriff's floating boathouse had come unhitched from its tether on the other side of East Mooring Basin and crashed into Pier 39. But I'd forgotten about it in the intervening month and a half, figuring it had been taken back home - so I was surprised to see it this morning, still snuggling up to the dock at 39.
Here's the boathouse from a slightly different angle. Do you see the white dot on the horizon in front of the bridge? That's a fishing boat docked at the 36th Street Pier, right near where the boathouse drifted from. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.
And the crime scene tape? Well, when the tide was high, the ill-mannered boathouse had wedged up against Pier 39's railing (you can see where it's broken), and impaled itself. It seems that Floyd had to call in a crane to get it off. Pier 39 was left with a broken rail, hence the tape, and the boathouse was left limping.
Here's a larger view of the pier where the boathouse used to live just to the left of the white boat and the rust-colored ramp. It's worth clicking on this photo just to see the beautiful fishing boats. When I left Pier 39, I went over to the original location of the boathouse at the 36th Street Pier, and that's where I stood to take the photo below.
The bright tan rectangle at the waterline in the distance to the right of the old cannery and the jetty is . . . the errant boathouse.
The place where it used to live is now quite empty except for a couple of poles and swimming sea lions (not visible under the water in this photo). The City felt it was too expensive to transport the boathouse back to its dock and fix the damage, so, according to the tale I heard, Floyd is hoping it will be able to be refurbished and used as a shed by an organization that teaches kids about boating. I don't have all the facts, so maybe someone will fill me in and I can update the blog. 
East of the column, from the road that leads to the top of Coxcomb Hill, you can still see the results of Astoria's big storm that occurred on the night of December 2-3, 2007. There are a number of places around town where damage is evident, particularly downed trees at the top of the hill and on the east and south sides of town. It always saddens me to see the degradation of our beautiful forest, but it could have been worse. We were told to expect "hurricane force" gusts and high sustained winds. Even so, our area is not noted for hurricane-force winds and storm reports usually err on the intensive side. While some individuals and businesses taped their windows and stocked supplies, many did not. In the morning, the town was a mess, with light poles and signs damaged, but destruction apparently random. One business would have its plate glass shattered (taped or not), while the next sustained no damage (taped or not). They say the "Columbus Day Storm" in the 1960s was a bit stronger, and apparenlty Astoria gets one of these whopping gales about once every 20 to 40 years. I think the official term ended up being "gale." If it had been designated a "hurricane," many property owners would have been ineligible for insurance or government aid, as it DOES matter what they call the high winds that blew off your roof! Astorians do not typically insure for hurricanes, because we've never had one. I understand that our area has only been given the opportunity to designate high winds as a "hurricane" in the past few years. In other words, the terminology is regulated by some board, and even hurricane-force winds could not have been given the designation of "hurricane" until this area had approval for the designation.
This lovely forest road is actually right in town. It winds its way to the top of Coxcomb hill, and makes a nice walk - not too long, but very beautiful and relaxing. I took the photo on May 4, 2005, before some of the trees blew down in the great storm of December 2, 2007. It's still very green, but a little thinner on the right side, especially as you climb the hill. One of the first things I noticed about Oregon when I moved here in 2001 after living in Southern California and Western Colorado was how green it is! I loved it, and I still do. In the spring you can see more colors of green than I've ever seen anywhere. I've never been to Ireland or much of the UK, so I can't compare, but northwestern Oregon is a veritable artist's palette of greens.
