December 2007 Snow Camp

[DjEep]

Our loose, clattery c-list free score chains worked just fine all the way to Detroit, too. Did have one little skid, but I'm blaming Mark. He led me off the road....

[deschutestrout]

Our loose, clattery c-list free score chains worked just fine all the way to Detroit, too. Did have one little skid, but I'm blaming Mark. He led me off the road....

I'm tellin' ya, that "abrupt edge" came outa nowheres

[hambone]

What time did you guys get outa there? I musta left about 8:30. Sure was weird coming down into the rain zone, everything so green. And that wind was something.

[LiveonJG]

I think it was sometime around 10:00.

-John

[DjEep]

Wasn't too much after you, maybe about an hour.

[deschutestrout]

But, we did feel abandoned by you .

What a great weekend...I was hoping for a dandy, but this was dandier than dandy

[hambone]

Maybe we can fit a couple more in before your season kicks off Mark, in the spring. Sagebrush! I know of a really cool area south of Cove Pallisades, Squaw Creek. I'm sure you know some dandies too.

[deschutestrout]

Maybe we can fit a couple more in before your season kicks off Mark, in the spring. Sagebrush! I know of a really cool area south of Cove Pallisades, Squaw Creek. I'm sure you know some dandies too.

Sounds good to me! Squaw Creek...I'll look it up.

[hambone]

It's where a dirt road crosses the creek, near where Squaw and the Deschutes join. There's gotta be some good spots along the Deschutes too, away from the busy zones.

[hambone]

Detroit copes with massive snowfall

Inmates and city crews work to clear streets, help people

BY SHELDON TRAVER
Special to the Statesman Journal

February 2, 2008

DETROIT -- Nancy Wallin used to think snow was a beautiful thing.

Now, as she cares for a husband with emphysema and struggles to keep the snow off her roof, driveway and handicap ramp, all she thinks is "not again."

"It's just coming too fast," she said. "Faster than we can deal with it."

With the snow also comes the wait. The roads need to be clear for delivery of oxygen tanks for her husband.

Residents of Detroit are struggling to recover from the effects of more than 13 feet of snow that has fallen during the past two weeks.

Neighbors are helping neighbors, and city officials are attempting to visit the area's elderly and sick residents, many of whom are stuck in their homes, unable to shovel their walkways or trapped by mounds of dirty snow pushed to the sides of city streets by snowplows.

City leaders put out a call for help earlier this week and it came in many forms.

Marion County sent an inmate work crew to help shovel snow. The city of Salem sent snowplows and a backhoe to clear streets and a road to the city's water pump.

Red Cross sent a crew with supplies Friday afternoon. Marion County will continue to have equipment and crews in Detroit and Idanha, said Marion County Emergency Manager John Vanderzanden.

"The cooperation between maintenance crews and the ability to move this sheer volume of snow has been incredible," Vanderzanden said.

On Friday, Marion County commissioners approved a request by city leaders in Idanha and Detroit to declare a state of emergency. The request was forwarded to the governor's office.

City officials are worried about water supplies.

Water usage is three times the normal amount -- a sure sign of leaks from the pipes and meters that have burst. But snow is piled so high, crews can't even find them.

If approved, the declaration would clear the way for Marion County to have additional access to state-owned equipment and personnel, Vanderzanden said. This includes the use of Oregon Department of Corrections work crews. Forty inmates and several corrections officers will work to clear rooftops and waterlines today, he said.

Marion County likely will bear the brunt of costs.

While crews worked to clear roads, John Meier from Salem came up with friends to clear more than 3 feet of snow from the top of a cover over his vacation home.

"A neighbor called and offered to shovel it off," he said. "The neighbors have been really good about that."

When he got to Detroit, he wasn't planning to see so much snow.

"It's a little more than I was expecting," he said. "I've already shoveled the roof once this year."

A team of four volunteers with the Willamette Chapter of the American Red Cross traveled into the Cascades late Friday afternoon to set up a mobile feeding vehicle.

The Red Cross was asked to help feed emergency workers. The team, which was requested by the Marion County Emergency Management office in Salem, is expected to provide meals to between 60 and 100 workers through today.

"We're set up and ready to receive anybody who needs assistance," said Red Cross volunteer Mike Mathisen of Salem.

Volunteers Sylvia Lee Young and Jack Hinkle, both of Monmouth, and John English of Dallas, joined Mathisen to set up the Red Cross outlet at the Detroit City Hall building.

"We have cots and blankets, comfort kits, plenty of food and a warm place for anyone who needs it," Mathisen said. "I've seen a lot of sanders and plows go through. The town itself is pretty quiet; there's lots of snow piled up here."

It wasn't only residents affected by the large snowfall. Many businesses were closed and those that were open weren't seeing many customers.

With Highway 20 closed until 1 p.m. Friday, the effects were amplified for those businesses choosing to remain open.

"It has slowed it down a lot," said Linda Scice, an employee at the Idanha Country Store. "We're normally slow in the winter anyway but this has made it really slow."

In addition to fewer customers, the store's owners are also losing refrigerated inventory as power is randomly lost.

"The weather has complicated everything," she said. "When I see snow I think, 'Not now.' Where is it going to go? Where will we put it? We don't need another 12 inches."

The Cedars Restaurant in Detroit remained open for hungry and weary work crews. Employees were offering free coffee to those willing to come up and help.

Crews will continue their efforts through the weekend. The National Weather Service said another 10 to 18 inches of snow could fall in the Cascades today and continue through the weekend. Vanderzanden said he hopes to keep the Detroit and Idanha's roadways clear as that happens.

"It's just a matter of time before the snow hits again," he said. "We're just waiting for that."

[deschutestrout]

Sounds like it could be a challenge to get into our site.