Last week’s storms left downed trees and some power outages, but otherwise, Sweet Home largely escaped the flooding and other issues experienced by communities to the north.
According to city Public Works Director Greg Springman, the winds early in the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 17, knocked down a tree in the 1300 block of Clark Mill Road and overturned trash cans throughout the area, scattering heavy debris on roads all over town, particularly Rowell Hill and Pleasant Valley roads. Several trees fell along the South HIlls trail on the south side of town.
Also, on Friday morning, Linn County Sheriff’s Office mountain deputies and Search and Rescue team members responded to multiple landslides on Quartzville Road, which trapped multiple people in the area.
Linn County Road Department reported Friday afternoon that Quartzville Road was closed through the weekend due to a landslide near Milepost 19.
The Linn County Road Department’s engineering team will assess the damage and determine when to open the road to traffic, according to the county.
LCSO units searched past the slide on Friday and located people, all for whom were “safe,” the Sheriff’s Office reported.
On Wednesday city Public Works staffers were out clearing gutters and drainage ditches in anticipation of the heavy rains that followed those winds, produced by the tropical atmospheric river that swept into the Northwest from Hawaii.
Nearly 4 inches of rain fell in the Sweet Home area between Wednesday and Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
The South Santiam River was measured at slightly over 9½ feet at Waterloo on Friday, Dec. 19, according to NOAA, short of minor flood stage, which is 12 feet.
As of Saturday morning, Dec. 20, water levels in the Calapooia River above Albany were record at 14.71 feet; beginning flood stage is 25 feet.
Highway 20 was closed Wednesday at Shea Point between milepost 31 and 71, due to downed trees and high winds, ODOT reported, adding that the closure would be “extended” and that motorists should use alternative routes. The highway was open Saturday morning, according to ODOT’s Trip Check site.
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office reported that a deputy pulled a downed tree to the side of the road near the intersection of Berlin Road and Marks Ridge Drive Wednesday morning, and
downed power lines and trees were blocking the road in the area of North River Drive and Sunnyside Road.
Schools across the Sweet Home area were closed Wednesday due to power outages caused by the winds.
Outages were reported for both Consumer Power and Pacific Power customers on Wednesday.
Highway 20 was closed briefly one mile west of the intersection with Spicer Drive on Wednesday at milepost 8 due to downed trees. Crews worked several hours clearing and repairing utility lines.
Highway 20 was reduced to one lane in the same area Friday due to high water. Crews were flagging traffic through the area.
The flooding, combined with saturated ground conditions, resulted in the City of Sweet Home overflowing diluted raw sewage into Ames Creek, which flows into the South Santiam River.
The influent pump station structure overflowed plant capacity at approximately 6:13 p.m. on
Thursday, Dec. 18, and as of 8 a.m. Friday, the situation was ongoing.
When the ground becomes saturated, groundwater enters the sanitary sewer system through
cracks and holes in the pipes, in addition to footing drains, and other sources of extraneous water from private property. When this occurs, the ability of the sewer system to transport sewage to the wastewater treatment plant is exceeded and the system becomes surcharged. When these conditions become severe enough, the level within the WWTP’s influent pump station surcharges, then overflows into Ames Creek.
Signs were posted warning people to avoid contact with the water in Ames Creek and South
Santiam River due to potentially higher levels of bacteria. The signs will be removed
when the overflow concludes and bacteria levels are determined to be normal.