I am sitting at home waiting for my fence to blow over. Normally I wouldn't be fixated on such a thing, but I figure, hey the house is on the market, a big storm is here, there obviously is going to be damage to the house - roof shingles gone, skylights blown away, the fence.... S. is at the coast working and I can't reach him. Verizon service died last night. Can't reach him on Cingular. Land lines are out. Power is out. All the roads to the coast are blocked by trees. Highway 101 is flooded at the north end of town. I may not hear from him for a couple days at this rate. I am sure he is running from farm to farm with generators so farmers can milk.
Maybe the saddest loss of this storm is the Sitka Spruce in Seaside. It was the oldest tree in Oregon and the largest Sitka Spruce in the United States. 206 ft. tall. 52 ft. circumference. 750 years old.
Before: (taken last summer - the top had already broken off from damage during the storm in Dec. 2006). There were plans to cut it down because it was unsafe, but ultimately it was blocked off and allowed to finish out its life naturally.
After: Taken by a brave KATU photog, it didn't survive the Dec. 2007 storm. It looks like it broke about a third of the way up the trunk.
2 comments:
It's good to hear you survived the storm. We got some wind here, but it's the rain that is wreaking havoc. Flooding everywhere. Leaks everywhere.
I heard about the tree, I've never seen it and looks like I never will. Thanks for the photos so I can experience it second hand.
Hope all is well in your world
I just discovered your blog--googling the Sitka Spruce, following links, etc. I live in Portland also. I also have a daughter named Emily who lived, for 5 years in Ecuador and married an Ecuadorean. We were in Quito for Christmas in 2005--apparently you were too! I enjoyed your pictures and saw many familiar places. We have stayed at Hostel Aya Huma on previous trips and hiked around Lake Cuicocha and to Cascada Peguche, etc. etc. We posted our 2005 pictures on a blog. You might be interested. www.noqinecuador.blogspot.com
Good luck with your move.
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