At one point when the winds whipped and the storm was at its strongest as it
hit tahe mountain on Tuesday, Nov. 17, responders from the Hoodland Fire
District (HFD) had to juggle seven calls at the same time. Fire Chief Mic Eby
noted all the district’s rigs were out and three things were prioritized: gaining
access to people in need, clearing roads for fire engines and ambulances to
pass through and getting people out who needed it.

“We had issues everywhere,” Eby said. “Everybody described it like a train
coming through, then poof, trees would bend over.”

Eby recalled things got rolling at 6:57 a.m. that morning, when the first power
lines went down, and “it just took off from there.” Twenty-two volunteers
responded during the storm, while Eby noted he was impressed by both
volunteers and the district staff.

“All night long, they really care for the community and the people in it,” he
said. “They want to provide the best and quickest service they can.”

Calls ranged from trees falling on houses to propane leaks to welfare checks,
but Eby said the biggest problem was from the fallen power lines. The
district’s standard policy is to treat all lines energized until Portland General
Electric (PGE) tells them they are otherwise.

Despite the extensive damage, Eby reported no major injuries, even he noted
one A-frame house was “now a duplex.” He added that many homes were
vacant at the time, with owners who only visit on the weekends or on a
seasonal basis.

At one point, both lanes of Hwy, 26 near milepost 46 were closed, while
approximately 43,600 PGE customers experienced a power outage at some
point. PGE deployed 97 crews to repair storm related damage.

“PGE was on it,” Eby said. “(Power was) back that night in places.”
Eby added that the welfare checks are a priority, as a quick response can
make a big difference for somebody stuck in a car or a house when they can’t
get out.

“If somebody has relatives up here and can’t contact them, give us a call and
we’ll check it out,” he said.

Locals share their experiences
Lorry Lythgoe, a Mountain resident since 1968, had a tree branch break
through the skylight of her Fairway Avenue home. The intrusion occurred
early evening of the Nov. 17 storm.

“First I heard a bang noise and went outside to see what it was,” Lythgoe told
The Mountain Times. “It must have been the wind because my patio furniture
was heading toward the neighbors.”

After battling the wind and the furniture, she returned to the house. There
was more to come.

“I was in the bedroom and heard this loud boom,” she said. “I ran into the
living room and a huge tree branch had gone through my skylight. The rain
was really coming down and my neighbors came running hard to help me.
They knew I couldn’t swim.”

As the storm has passed, Lythgoe now reports that instead of the wind and
rain, all you can hear are chainsaws.

“There’s going to be a lot of free wood this winter,” she said.

Robert Cole, of Welches, escaped without damage from the storm, but was in
awe of the mighty blast.

“We had 80 to 100 mile per hour wind gusts and rain like I have never seen,”
Cole wrote in an email the night of the storm. “All power is out in Welches,
with power lines down everywhere. It might take days before it is restored.”
Cole was lucky. He was mostly prepared.

“I have a generator and able to email you,” he said. “But I have to get to
Sandy for gas as the local station has no power to pump and I am running
low. This is the worst storm I have witnessed up here.”

“This is the worst storm I’ve seen in a few years,” added Drew Levens, an
Alder Creek resident for 16 years. “The power was out overnight which in
comparison to previous years was actually fairly mild. The local power
company was on it within a few hours and the power was on the next
morning.”

Others in the community were not so lucky when it came to the falling debris.
A tree fell on the home of Eric Getchell, whose family is now in search of a
new place to live with his wife and his adult son who is disabled with
Asberger’s disease.

“We have two cats, and a dog, which will hamper us in finding a permanent
home, and the tree that took out the entire width of our house, leaving a 4-ft
wide, open skylight, is not covered by insurance,” Getchell wrote in an email
to the Mountain Times, adding that he has set up an account on
GoFundme.com to help pay for new housing and moving.

To help the Getchell family, visit GoFundme.com and search for “Eric Getchell
Rhododendron.”