The Worst Storm in Oregon’s History
Kyle Hague
Broadway Middle School
Seaside, Oregon
On December 2-3, 2007 the worst storm recorded in history in the Oregon coast in Northwestern Oregon. The storms on December 2nd and 3rd continued for an extreme, long-duration wind cycle with hurricane-force wind gusts of up to 137 mph. Gale-force winds tore up forests and buildings, mudslides and landslides caused much damage and some loss of life, and rivers flooded whole towns. The storm was an insane storm. When the storm started, I was so freaked out. My brother’s friend spent the night that night so we were sleeping in our great-room. The wind was so powerful that it was shaking our whole house. At one point of the night I seriously saw the whole roof lift about two inches from the wall. Even now, some people are without homes. Because of all the flooding and damage, all the kids in Vernonia go to school in Clatskanie.
I live in Surf Pines, Warrenton, and we got hit extremely hard. Fallen trees were all over. A person would be very lucky if there wasn’t one tree down in their yard. After this storm, I feel that everybody knows what a small storm is like. It made me think of the storm in New Orleans. We had it extremely hard, but the people in New Orleans are crazy. Some people in New Orleans are still without electricity. Some people still don’t have a house to live in. Here we only had the power out for about five whole days. There were probably only five families that lost their house. It was the worst storm in Oregon’s history.
