Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home barely caught the edge of two winter storms over the past 10 days and has had relatively minor issues compared to areas to the north, where snow buried cities and stretched commutes out to many hours.
In Sweet Home starting Wednesday evening, Dec. 14, trees bent under the weight of ice, the sound of limbs cracking and falling echoed across town, while numerous residents dealt with limbs and trees falling on and around their homes, and several areas lost power.
“It was actually relatively calm compared to not just the state but the county,” said Police Chief Jeff Lynn, as snow blanketed Lebanon, Albany and north and west in the valley. “We really escaped the majority of it.”
Lynn couldn’t think of any weather-related accidents, he said.
A downed power line closed 14th Avenue near Sankey Park, and a falling tree took down a power line in the 4200 block of Main.
“It actually went fairly well,” said Sweet Home Public Works Director Mike Adams. Public Works crews stayed busy removing debris and tree limbs from the public right-of-way. They responded to trees down at 10th and Elm, 49th and Airport and 12th and Osage.
Pacific Power spokesman Ry Schwark said 1,710 Sweet Home customers lost power on Wednesday when a tree hit a line, and two other downed trees or limbs knocked out power for 250 and 303 customers, respectively, on Thursday. Also, some 60 residents on the Crawfordsville side of Courtney Creek Drive were in the dark for 33 hours between Wednesday night and Friday morning.
Fire Chief Dave Barringer said the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District responded to three wire down calls Wednesday and Thursday, including Marks Ridge, Highway 228 and Valley View and the tree down on the power line in the 4200 block of Main. Firefighters also responded to a pole fire on Pickett Lane.
The department was prepared for much worse, he said. “There was a lot of ice” but “not near what they (forecasters) thought was going to be here.”
Heavy snowfall caused one avalanche and anotherclosed Santiam Pass on Wednesday night.
Law enforcement officials reported motorists needing assistance, and vehicles were blocking Highway 20 at Santiam Pass. Officials asked the public to avoid traveling over the pass.
Flood watch warnings were posted Monday evening for most of Northwest Oregon, lasting through Tuesday.
More rain and snow is predicted for the end of this week, including possible snow in Sweet Home on Saturday and Sunday as temperatures drop into the 20s, according to forecasts.