Federal officials to tour Oregon storm damage

By Brad Cain, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, December 08, 2007 | No comments posted.

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SALEM — Federal officials planned to visit Oregon this weekend to assess flood damage to roads as state and local crews continued cleanup efforts in communities where 22,000 households were still without electricity Friday after this week’s Pacific storms.

Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary Thomas Barrett and Federal Highway Administrator Rick Capka are scheduled to meet Oregon transportation officials Sunday in Portland to assess damage to roads and discuss federal efforts to help with those repairs.

At the same time, Gov. Ted Kulongoski and members of Oregon’s congressional delegation are pressing for an expedited federal disaster declaration that will help storm victims with temporary housing and other aid, and the state with cleanup and repair.

There still was no official damage estimate, although a spokesman for the state’s emergency response efforts said it would be “in the tens of millions of dollars, at least.”

“We think it is readily apparent that there is enough damage to justify a federal disaster declaration,” Lonn Hoklin said Friday.

Utility crews worked Friday to get the juice flowing again to thousands of households that have been without electricity after twin Pacific storms slammed the coast at the start of the week.

Pacific Power spokesman Tom Gauntt said Seaside is the hardest hit city with 8,000 customers still in the dark. In Astoria, 4,000 remain without electricity while another 2,000 Pacific Power customers in Cannon Beach were in the dark.

He said a big problem is that eight transmission towers were damaged between Seaside and Cannon Beach.

In Tillamook County, another 8,000 households were without electricity, with many of those outages scattered in coastal towns including Garibaldi, Wheeler and Bay City, state officials said.

Kulongosi issued his request for a federal disaster declaration Wednesday, noting the severe damage to public and private property that occurred in Clatsop, Columbia, Lincoln, Tillamook and Yamhill counties.

Once a disaster is declared, federal money can help victims with home repair, legal services, medical care, crisis counseling and other needs. FEMA officials also notify storm victims of benefits from other federal agencies, such as loans from the Small Business Administration.

In the meantime, Hoklin said the state and local agencies were making progress in cleanup and repairs in storm damaged areas.

All major highways in the state are open, although some secondary roads are still blocked by fallen trees and other debris, he said.

In hard-hit Vernonia, state prison inmates were helping with the cleanup, and telephone service has been restored to the town.

“We’ve seen steady progress, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” he said.
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