Saw a buoy struggling in the ocean and decided to video its plight.
NWS HIGH WIND WARNING LOWERED
New National Weather Service alert lowers the predicted wind gusts.
Timing of peak winds was also bumped up to 10am – 3pm.
CENTRAL OREGON COAST-CENTRAL COAST RANGE OF WESTERN OREGON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…LINCOLN CITY…NEWPORT…FLORENCE…
VENETA
430 AM PDT SAT OCT 15 2016
…HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE CENTRAL OREGON COAST AND THE CENTRAL
COAST RANGE OF OREGON IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO
5 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON…
THE HIGH WIND WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO
5 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON.
* SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL RAPIDLY INCREASE SATURDAY MORNING.
* BEACHES AND HEADLANDS: SOUTH WINDS 40 TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 75
MPH.
* COASTAL COMMUNITIES AND SHELTERED AREAS: SOUTH WINDS 25 TO 35
MPH WITH GUSTS 50 TO 60 MPH.
* HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE COAST RANGE: SOUTH WINDS 40 TO 50 MPH WITH
GUSTS TO 75 MPH.
* TIMING OF PEAK WINDS: BETWEEN 10 AM AND 3 PM.
* IMPACTS: BROKEN AND DOWNED TREE LIMBS COULD GET ENTANGLED
WITH POWER LINES…CREATING POWER OUTAGES. ANY TREE DEBRIS
ON ROADS MAY HINDER TRAVEL. ALSO…TREES COULD BE TOPPLED…
ESPECIALLY SHALLOW ROOTED TREES AND TREES THAT IN HIGHLY
EXPOSED LOCATIONS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS A HAZARDOUS HIGH WIND EVENT IS EXPECTED
OR OCCURRING. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH OR GUSTS
OF 58 MPH OR MORE CAN LEAD TO PROPERTY DAMAGE.
Before a High Wind Event
- Trim tree branches away from your house and power lines.
- Secure loose gutters and shutters.
- Identify an interior room of your house, such as a basement or interior bathroom, that you can take shelter in during high wind warnings.
- If you live in a mobile home, identify a sturdy building you can go to if NWS issues a high wind or severe thunderstorm warning.
- Update your emergency kit and be sure to include enough food and water to last for 3 days for each person in your home.
- Make a list of items outside your home you will need to tie down or put away so that they don’t blow away or fly through a window. When NWS issues a high wind or severe thunderstorm watch, immediately secure these items to avoid damage or injury once the wind starts picking up.
Never drive around barricades into flood waters! More than 50% of all flood fatalities are vehicle-related. It only takes 12 inches of water to carry off a small car and 18 inches of water to sweep a larger vehicle away. Turn Around Don’t Drown!tadd.weather.gov #FloodSafety
Storm Watch – All Clear
Looks like we survived the worst Mother Nature had to throw at us.
Here’s a breakdown of what to expect and when to expect it:
- Saturday-Sunday: A powerful storm will track near or over parts of the Pacific Northwest Saturday, with effects lingering into Sunday. The strongest winds would occur immediately ahead of and behind the time the front sweeps through, particularly along the coast. Heavy rain, coastal flooding and at least some high-mountain snow are also expected, lingering into Sunday.
Storm Watch – Depoe Bay
Pulled off Highway 101 to shoot some film of rough seas in Depoe Bay. Wind gusts broke the back door of my Suburban! Just a taste of the storm to come.
State Park Closures and Advisories
A series of fall storms through the weekend promising strong winds, rain and dangerous waves has prompted the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to issue a safety alert for coast and inland valley visitors.
For people on the coast, the department advises stormwatching from headlands and other elevated places well above the action, and avoiding the beach and low-lying rocky areas. Beaches can be treacherous before, during, and after storms due to powerful waves that can rush far inland, high winds, and logs and other debris. Parks in the Willamette Valley may also be affected by high water and winds.
Many state parks will be closed with little to no warning, or suffer unexpected power outages. Visitors to state parks should check ahead of time athttp://bit.ly/2016oregoncoaststorm for updates.
Beach safety tips, videos and information on the dangers of sneaker waves, rolling logs and rip currents is available at www.oregonbeachsafety.org.
Finders Keepers Postponed
Due to extreme weather conditions predicted for this weekend Finders Keepers, glass floats on the beach in Lincoln City, is postponed until October 22nd. High winds, flooding, and heavy rainfall is expected Thursday through Tuesday. We advise all visitors to practice caution and stay off the beach this weekend. http://ow.ly/FgeA30573uM
Be Safe and Prepared
High, potentially dangerous winds are blowing into the Northwest, bringing heavy rain and the threat of power outages. Pacific Power is urging its customers and the public to take precautions to stay safe and comfortable.
The National Weather Service is forecasting the first of a series of strong Pacific storms to begin hitting the northern California and southern Oregon coasts early Thursday morning and then push inland. The strongest of these storms, packing winds up to 80 miles per hour, is currently predicted to come ashore Saturday.
“Storms like this one can cause significant damage to the electrical grid,” said Curtis Mansfield, vice president, operations. “One way we minimize interruptions to your electric service despite the storms is by paying close attention to trees near power lines. In 2016, we pruned 363,000 trees on 5,100 miles of lines investing more than $25 million to remove hazards and make the lines more resilient. Based on experience, we’ve anticipated and prepared for this weather and the outages that could occur by staging crews and equipment strategically so that we are able to deploy them where they are needed when the time comes.”
When outages occur, Pacific Power is ready to keep customers informed of efforts to restore service and get them through an outage.
“We are ready to assist you whenever you need help with your electric needs,” said Barb Coughlin, vice president of customer service. “Before the storm arrives, please visit our website and download our mobile app to report power problems or get real time outage updates. We also have 250 agents on duty so that along with our automated systems we can handle 20,000 outage calls per hour to assist you.”
Download the Pacific Power app by going to pacificpower.net/app.
Every home should have an Emergency Outage Kit that includes the following:
Flashlight
Battery-operated radio and clock
Extra batteries
Non-perishable foods
Manual can opener
Bottled water
Blankets
If a power outage occurs, Pacific Power encourages customers to first check their fuses and circuit breakers. If the power failure is not caused inside the home or business, customers should report the outage to Pacific Power at 1-877-508-5088.
To ease the inconvenience of power outages and assist crews in restoring power, Pacific Power suggests the following tips and safety precautions:
Stay away from all downed power lines and utility lines. Even if the lines are not sparking, they could be energized and extremely dangerous. Call 911 and report the outage to Pacific Power at 1-877-508-5088.
Don’t drive over downed power lines.
Turn on your porch light. After crews complete repairs, they patrol the area of the power failure to see if lights are on.
Check on your neighbors, especially those who may need special assistance. Also, check with others who have electricity, to see if you can visit.
Keep mobile devices charged so that may be used in an emergency. Before anything happens, download the Pacific Power app to your smart device so you can have information readily available.
Pacific Power also thanks customers in advance for their patience during power outages. Crews make every effort to keep outage durations to a minimum and to restore power safely and quickly.
Customers and media representatives can also track larger scale outages online. Outages affecting more than 500 customers are posted on the Pacific Power website as soon as information is available. Updates will be made as new information becomes available or at least hourly at pacificpower.net/outage.
Without Warning: Tsunami
Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management and Dark Horse Comics team up to prepare for the Great Oregon ShakeOut on October 20 and introduce Without Warning: Tsunami, a new comic touting tsunami preparedness. The 16-page comic strip sequence chronicles a mother/daughter camping trip on the Oregon coast when an earthquake and resulting tsunami strike. The duo stays safe and helps others in danger.
Without Warning: Tsunami is the second time that the partners have come together to collaborate on bringing preparedness messaging to youth. In 2013, OEM’s Geologic Hazards Program Coordinator Althea Rizzo approached Dark Horse with a proposal. An avid comic book fan herself, Rizzo knew that it was a good way to reach a new target audience. In August 2014, Without Warning was released, telling a story of an Oregon teen who reunites with her family after a major Cascadia Earthquake.
“The events in Tohoku, Japan in 2011 brought new awareness to the reality of what could happen in Oregon in the aftermath of a Cascadia quake,” said Rizzo. “The first Without Warning comic helped to educate young people about what to do in the aftermath of a high-magnitude earthquake. This second comic about tsunamis is a logical follow up and story continuation.”
Rizzo came up with both stories. Dark Horse Editor Shantel LaRocque then worked with writer Jeremy Barlow and artist David Hahn to have them scripted and illustrated.
Oregon is located in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a 600-hundred mile earthquake fault stretching from offshore Northern California to Southern British Columbia. According to scientists and other experts, a large 9.0 or higher earthquake could strike Oregon at any time.
“Dark Horse is proud to support emergency preparedness and Oregon Emergency Management with the Without Warning: Tsunami comic,” said Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics president. “We enjoy partnering with an organization dedicated to making Oregon’s residents safe and prepared for a natural disaster, and are proud to contribute our talent and resources to the cause.”
Without Warning: Tsunami will be released on October 12 and available online at http://bit.ly/2dWuS0G. Printed copies can be obtained through local county emergency management offices.
The mission of Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management is to lead statewide efforts to develop and enhance preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation capabilities to protect the lives, property and environment of the whole community.
