Oregon Flood

In 1903 the worst flood in Oregon history struck the town of Heppner, OR unaware.  The flood killed 324 people and caused millions of dollars in damage.  Heppner was a area rich in sheep herding and wheat fields.  As the county seat, it was reported that the Willow Creek overflowed it banks so suddenly that 1/4 of the population of Heppner were drowned and the town itself was almost wiped off the map.

The type of flood that caused all the destruction in Heppner was a flash flood, and an extreme example at that.  Before the flood, heavy rains and hail had come down from the Blue Mountains above Heppner.  It is reported that the rain lasted nor more than an hour, but that a 20 foot wall of water came through the town with little warning carrying most of the town away with it. 

The bartender at the Belevdore Saloon shouted "I'll stay with her until she floats" You know he did, she did, and neither were ever seen again.

Of interest is another flood not witnessed by any human and occurring back in the last Ice Age when a ice dam located in modern day Montana broke and for 11 days, the volume of water equivalent to 5 times the water in Lake Erie rushed over Idaho and eastern Washington, scouring landscape and layers of bedrock for hundreds of miles!  Fascinating :) And we think we have floods today.... 


Next time...Free Lunch for the Loggers