Days Gone By: July 15, 2021 eastoregonian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eastoregonian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
PENDLETON â Umatilla County residents could see the Thorn Hollow Bridge on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation replaced much sooner than previously anticipated, as county and state officials have made new plans to immediately begin demolishing and rebuilding the flood-damaged roadway.
Officials in a press conference on Wednesday, March 10, said that, if all goes well, whatâs left of the bridge could be demolished as early as this year, with hopes that construction will follow soon thereafter.
The bridge, which was damaged and rendered impassable in the aftermath of the Umatilla River flooding in February 2020, sits nearest to the town of Adams. The bridge is part of local school bus routes and is a main access point to Highway 11. The closest alternate river crossing sits about 5 miles west, officials said in the press conference.
UMATILLA COUNTY â As longtime Umatilla County residents surveyed the rushing waters of the countyâs flood of 2020, it brought to mind another scene, from 1996.
The county marked the 25th anniversary of the flood of 1996 â generally considered the last âbig oneâ before 2020 â on Feb. 9.
When an
East Oregonian reporter found Hermiston Irrigation District Manager Annette Kirkpatrick surveying where flood waters had overtopped the districtâs gates along the Umatilla River during the 2020 flood, she immediately made the comparison.
âEven â96 wasnât as bad as this,â she said at the time, echoing the thoughts of others interviewed that day.
The numbers bear out that, at least in terms of water height, the 2020 flood was worse. In 1996, the
The flood of 1996 eastoregonian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eastoregonian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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.