Gerald Meisner and Cheryl Baker pose for a portrait in front of their home in the Riverview Mobile Home Estates in Pendleton on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. The pair have spent much of the last year repairing their home after historic flooding inundated their home with several inches of water in February 2020. Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
PENDLETON â Cheryl Baker can still see the river from her house.
A year ago, a rapidly melting snowpack combined with heavy rains in the Blue Mountains created a surge of water that overwhelmed the banks of the Umatilla River. Across the county, the rising waters penetrated levees, tore through homes, shut down factories and took a life.