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Spirits Good on Oregon Coast Despite No Power

Bay City was still without power at last report

(Oregon Coast) - Coastal residents are glad to be getting back up on their feet and having the power on, essentially again joining civilization.

Most fared just fine in the storm, aside from a few who had tree damage, or that unlucky handful that incurred wind damage in Astoria or Bay City. It was the days after that began testing people’s patience: three or more days of no electrical power, showers, phone use and even connections to the outside world. But many weren’t in terrible moods to begin with. Some were really enjoying the sense of roughing it.

Seaside came back on the grid around 3 p.m. Friday. 114 hours without power – since Sunday night – said Seaside Aquarium manager Keith Chandler. Manzanita came back online Thursday night. Lincoln City was fully restored by Thursday as well, and Astoria is almost completely back from the black. Cannon Beach and Arch Cape are still using generator power, while most of Lincoln County south of Lincoln City has been up since early this week or never lost power in the first place.

Manzanita at dusk on Thursday: a city of lights on the sea, created by gobs of crabbers

Now, the coastal highways and Highway 101 are a living testaments to the devastation, with huge chunks of forests simply blown over – trees that were snapped by the forces of the wind. Along the sides of the highways sit heaps of broken trees, lumped together in piles after they were moved from the roadways and then chopped into bits by chainsaws.

In Manzanita, Amy Dunlap helps run Sunset Vacation Rentals. She was one of those losing her patience with the power situation.

“After five days of no power I think I might just lose it,” Dunlap said. “We are all very tired. We did have one of our cleaners homes have a tree fall on it and demolish it but they were OK. No major damage on the rentals. A few trees on homes, but other than that, amazingly we skated away with minor damage.

Newport and its bay fared quite well

“I am ready for a warm shower. Being out of communication with our homeowners was the hardest part. I had to email my mom at my friend’s house - who had a generator and DSL – email her a list of homeowners to contact. They were all very happy to know we were ok and their homes as well.”

Dee Shannon, manager of The Landing at Newport, said that hotel didn’t do badly. “We had some shingles fly off of the roof,” Shannon said. “We also had a couple balcony glass shields blow in. Compared to those around us, it seems that we held up pretty well.”

Communities pulled together in various ways all along the coastline, and many were turning lemons into lemonade. Like David Johnson, of Cannon Beach Fultano’s Pizza. His business has lost most of its food inventory, although he was able to donate a dozen or so pizzas to local agencies that were feeding people before the ingredients spoiled.

Fultano's in Cannon Beach

Johnson had just gotten his own generator up on Thursday as officials came in and turned on the juice from the big generator. On Friday, he said there was still no power other than the city’s generator.

“I’ve got this figured out for next time,” Johnson said.

Down the street, the owner of Cannon Beach Cookie Company was having an outdoor barbecue in front of her powerless store – which was serving food. This group was laughing it up and admitted they were having fun. Someone broke out beer bottles, and all had a hardy laugh when the woman tried to sit on a cardboard box that immediately gave way beneath her.

At least two people driving by slowed down and yelled that it looked like fun. “It is,” the owner yelled back.

A church in Seaside also hosted free meals with food donated from local restaurants.

San Dune Pub is a warm spot for hungry locals in Manzanita on Thursday

Many restaurants did what they could to get rid of food that might otherwise spoil without proper refrigeration. Manzanita’s The Little Apple Grocery barbecued a large amount of meat outdoors earlier in the week and just gave it away.

“Everybody’s been very nice and cordial,” said Jan, a woman who works at the grocery. “All you can do is laugh and make the best of it.”

Also in town, the San Dune Pub had a generator and was serving hot food. There, many gathered to keep warm on Thursday as dusk and chilly temperatures set in. They even had enough power for a big TV screen to show the news to information-hungry locals.

When one bartender heard I was heading back to Portland that night, she asked: “Can you take me with you - back to civilization?”

Arch Cape Tunnel

One of the more interesting aspects of all the power outages really showed when night fell on Thursday. There were no streetlights in any town, nor along Highway 101 on the north coast, which made for a darker than usual drive between Seaside and Manzanita.

Most eerie was traveling through the Arch Cape Tunnel, even with twilight still visible. Normally, the tunnel has many lights inside, guiding the way. Now, it was pitch black.

As if to show mankind’s small part in the greater scheme of things, the beauty of the ocean around Manzanita shone brightly at sunset. No matter what happens to Man and his civilization, nature will still be there, looking as good as ever. Out there, on the horizon, were giant puffy clouds, reflected in the sea and oblivious to whatever was going on at the shoreline.

There were a large helping of crabbing boats as well – so many it looked like a small, floating city in the distance. Then, at night, with no clouds and frigid air to remind everyone who was boss on Earth, the stars shone brightly and brilliantly in the winter sky – now unimpeded by even the meager city or highway lights.

For a little while, you could forget the lack of showers and no Internet access. It was gorgeous. Several people walking in the dark along Manzanita’s main drag, Laneda Avenue, did forget about it. They called the view “magical.”

For a video of north coast storm coverage, click here or see below

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