wheat field under plow ~Pendleton OR– 8

lornajarrettblanchard August 25, 1999

— 8 Dresbeck, Rachel. Oregon Disasters. Chapter 15. 2006, p. 145,

— 8 State of OR. 2012 Oregon Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, Feb 2012, 3-DS-2.

Narrative Information

State of OR: “In September of 1999, after a long dry summer, a farmer was plowing his wheat fields in Eastern Oregon on a blue-sky day. A freak wind whipped up and dust covered the roadway. Instantly, everything went black. Later, they found dead people in cars with the cruise controls still set as high as 75 miles an hour. One person involved in the accident tried to go back to warn others. He waved at them, but the passing drivers just waved back… The last sight the young man had of one trucker was the trucker driving full bore into the dust storm, both hands off the wheel as he waved…”[1]

State of OR: “During this September 25, 1999 dust storm, high winds blowing dust set off a chain-reaction of crashes that killed eight people and injured more than twenty. In all, more than forty vehicles crashed in separate pileups in both freeway directions between Hermiston and Pendleton. Parts of Interstate 84 were blocked from mind-morning until nearly midnight.

“Huge dust clouds set off by 50 mile per hour winds, dry soil, recent planting of nearby wheat fields and harvesting of potato fields created extremely hazardous driving conditions that fateful morning. However, an Oregon State Police (OSP) report on the dust storm didn’t blame the weather. It reported that driving too fast for conditions was the primary cause of the pileups. The report indicated that neither OSP nor ODOT had enough warning time to close the freeway before the chain reaction crashes stared. Five minutes after OSP noticed that visibility on the freeway was rapidly getting worse, the accidents started.

“Community Solutions Team meetings held in early 2000 determined that focusing on the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Soil and Water Conservation District practices…[elsewhere in “Dust Storms Chapter”] will help reduce the volume of materials available to be whipped-up in dust storms. These meetings also resulted in initiatives to increase detection and warning time. These allow OSP and ODOT to temporarily close certain highways, as well as better inform and advise the traveling public….”[2]

Sources

Dresbeck, Rachel. Oregon Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival. Chapter 15. Guilford, CT: Insiders’ Guide, imprint of globe Pequot Press, 2006.

State of Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience. “Dust Storms Chapter,” pp. 3-DS-1 to 3-DS-16, in State of Oregon Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. University of Oregon’s Community Service Center, Feb 2012. Accessed 9-25-2016 at: https://www.oregon.gov/LCD/HAZ/Pages/2012nhmp_sections.aspx#2012_Oregon_Natural_Hazards_Mitigation_Plan_%E2%80%93_By_Section

[1] Cites the novel, Learning to Fly, by April Henry, which begins with this event.

[2] “Derived from the reports developed by a Community Solutions Team and Oregon State Police after the September 25, 1999 Umatilla County dust storm.”