1996 — Nov 18-20, Pacific Northwest Storm, Rain, Mudslides, Ice, Snow, OR, WA[1] — 8

— 8  AP. “Oregon highway collapses; eight dead in…storm.” Clovis News Journal, 11-21-1996.

— 8  News-Review Today (Roseburg, OR). “Douglas County’s Top 10 Disasters,” 6-27-2004.

 

Oregon           (5)

— 4  Nov 18. Moon Home landslide. AP. “Mudslide covers home, kills 4 inside.” 11-20-1996.

Male, 46, permanent home.  NCDC Storm Events Database. Flood, OR, Douglas, Nov

Female, 44, permanent home.

Female, 40, permanent home.

Female, 40, permanent home.

— 1  Nov 20 (body found). Delsa Lynn Hammer, 48; car pushed by mudslide into Umpqua Riv.[2]

 

Washington    (3)

–3  AP. “Oregon highway collapses; eight dead in Northwest storm.” Clovis News Journal, 11-21

–1  Moses Lake area, Nov 19. Pine tree snaps under heavy ice; crushes motor home; male, 29.[3]

–1  Tacoma area, Nov 19. Car spun out on snowy road, hit by semi; Timothy O’Brien, 29.[4]

–1  Yakima, Nov 19-20. Carport collapsed under heavy snow; male (Charles Wiltsey), 85.[5]

 

Narrative Information

 

NCDC on WA Ice Storm: “Before the freezing rain hit there was already 2 to 4 inches of snow on the ground. Between 1 and 1.5 inches of freezing rain fell over the Spokane area, knocking out power to 50% of the people and forcing the mayor to declare a state of emergency. It was the worst ice storm in 60 years, and the worst power outage in 108 years. 3 days after the storm, 100,000 people in the county were still without power. 6 days after the storm, 20,000 were still without power, with below freezing temperatures for most of the time. All the hotels and motels were full. School was closed for 3 days, and the airport was closed for several hours during the storm. Trees were down everywhere, and Gregory Carlson, 29, was killed when a pine snapped and crushed his motor home.” (NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Ice Storm, Washington, Moses Lake Area, Nov 19, 1996.)

 

Nov 20, AP: “Roseburg, Ore. – A rain-soaked hillside broke loose in southern Oregon, swallowing up a home and killing the four people inside. A newspaper delivery-man swept down the hill by a wall of mud and debris survived.” (AP, Roseburg, OR (Jeff Barnard). “Mudslide covers home, kills 4 inside.” Orange County Register, Santa Ana, CA. 11-20-1996, p. 20.)

 

Nov 21, AP: “Portland, Ore. (AP)….Eight people have died in the record storm that hit the Pacific Northwest this week. Tens of thousands of people remained without power Wednesday as residents worked to clear debris from fallen trees.

 

“Road crews removing debris from an Oregon highway Wednesday [Nov 20] found the body of Delsa Lynn Hammer, 48, of the coastal town of Coos Bay. Her car apparently had been pushed into the Umpqua River by a mudslide, said Douglas County sheriff’s Capt. Robert Stratton. Mudslides trapped about 30 vehicles along the highway late Monday….

 

“Three deaths in Washington were blamed on the snow and ice….” (AP, Portland, OR. “Oregon highway collapses; eight dead in Northwest storm.” Clovis News Journal, NM, 11-21-1996, p.1.)

 

News-Review Today: “In November 1996, an unrelenting rain fell on Douglas County, causing the deaths of eight people countywide.  In one day, Nov. 17, more than 4 inches fell in Roseburg and 7 inches in the hills. Flooding caused millions of dollars in damage to homes businesses and public roads. The biggest danger remained on the hillsides. Rick and Susan Moon and their friends Sharon Marvin and Ann Maxwell all died when a massive mudslide crushed the Moons’ home along Hubbard Creek Road near Umpqua. On Highway 38 west of Scottsburg, a series of mudslides buried motorist Delsa Lynn Hammer of Coos Bay, injured two others and stranded dozens for hours.

 

“On Nov. 21, as the South Umpqua River receded when the rain stopped, it left a sinkhole on Interstate 5 that damaged two semi trucks. Trampis Gress of Roseburg lost part of his right foot after he tried waving another semi away from the accident. Nine days later, a small mudslide blocked a car driven by Craig Appler, who was returning home to North Bend with his wife, Georgina, and their two young children, Daisha Ann, 2, and Austin Wayne, less than a year old. While backing away from the slide, their car was struck by a tractor-trailer heading the opposite direction. Only Craig Appler survived.”  (News-Review Today, Roseburg, OR.  27 June 2004.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press, Roseburg, OR (Jeff Barnard). “Mudslide covers home, kills 4 inside.” Orange County Register, Santa Ana, CA. 11-20-1996, p. 20. Accessed 2-1-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=194552670&sterm

 

Associated Press, Portland, OR. “Oregon highway collapses; eight dead in Northwest storm.” Clovis News Journal, NM, 11-21-1996, p. 1. Accessed 2-1-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=277971425&sterm=delsa+lynn+hammer

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database, Flood [actually a mudslide], Oregon, Douglas T NW & E, Nov 17-21-1996. Accessed 2-1-2016 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5584186

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Oregon, Southern Coast, Nov 17-21, 1996. Accessed 2-1-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5584187

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Heavy Snow, Washington, Tacoma Area, Nov 19, 1996. Accessed 2-1-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5570839

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Heavy Snow, Washington, Yakima Valley, Nov 19-20, 1996. Accessed 2-1-2016 at: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5571023

 

National Climatic Data Center, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Ice Storm, Washington, Moses Lake Area, Nov 19, 1996. Accessed 2-1-2016: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5571026

 

News-Review Today, Roseburg, OR. “Douglas County’s Top 10 Disasters,” 6-27-2004.  Accessed at: http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20040627/FEATURES/106280044

 

Orange County Register, Santa Ana, CA. “Muddy highway crash kills three in family.” 12-2-1996, p. 14. Accessed 2-1-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=194554395&sterm

 

 

[1] Not included is the Dec 1 death of three members of Appler family (wife/mother and two children) when their car was hit by a semi after they stopped at a mudslide near Elkton, Douglas County, on the Umpqua River.

[2] AP. “Oregon highway collapses; eight dead in Northwest storm.” Clovis News Journal, NM, 11-21-1996, p. 1; NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Flood, Oregon, Southern Coast, Nov 17-21, 1996.

[3] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Ice Storm, Washington, Moses Lake Area, Nov 19, 1996.

[4] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Heavy Snow, Washington, Tacoma Area, Nov 19, 1996.

[5] NCDC, NOAA. Storm Events Database. Heavy Snow, Washington, Yakima Valley, Nov 19-20, 1996.