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At Least One Death on Oregon Coast; Astounding Wave Videos Captured

Published 01/12/2020 at 5:45 PM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

At Least One Death on Oregon Coast; Astounding Wave Videos Captured

(Seaside, Oregon) – Saturday’s major surf issues created some spectacular sights but it proved deadly as well. One child has died as a result of getting swept into the ocean during this weekend’s massive wave event on the Oregon coast while another is still considered missing in the surf.

Meanwhile, this weekend’s king tides coupled with 35-foot swells offshore made for simply astounding sights on video, even if much of it showed a dangerous disregard for safety.

On Saturday afternoon, a father and his two small children were swept into the sea at Falcon Cove by a freak wave that washed onto an area above the beach, a notoriously dangerous area between Manzanita and Cannon Beach. The 47-year-old Portlander and the seven-year-old girl were retrieved from the water but the four-year-old boy was still missing. A massive search ensued on land and by helicopter, but U.S. Coast Guard boats could not join because the river bar was closed at Astoria.

The girl and the father were taken to the hospital at Seaside, but the girl did not survive. Tillamook County sherriff's say the man will surivve.

The search for the boy has been permanently suspended.

Falcove Cove is an extremely dangerous area even in only slightly stormy conditions. This is one of numerous beaches you do not want to go near in such a king tides event as this.

Storm Videos / Photos

Meanwhile, the day produced some amazing video of the storm, as well as showing others disregarding the extreme dangers.

At top, Tiffany Boothe of Seaside Aquarium caught some rather frightening surges getting extremely close to the hotels at the Cove.


Above, Seaside’s Angi D. Wildt Gallery caught remarkable images that show how far the sea went up towards the Turnaround – a tideline that is normally 1000 feet away.

The ocean is tossing buckets on our entire block right now with the big swell and king tides! 👑🌊🌊🌊

Posted by Depoe Bay Winery on Saturday, January 11, 2020

Down at Depoe Bay, the spouting horn was going especially bonkers. What is usually a maximum height of 20 – 30 feet in the air easily scaled 60 feet or higher Saturday morning. The video shows a truly unusually raucous state.

Ever wonder what it’s like to drive through a Spouting Horn on a King Tide? 📸 @davidDahle

Posted by Discover Depoe Bay on Saturday, January 11, 2020

That video shows the famed feature soaking traffic, but the Depoe Bay Chamber caught that from inside a car. At the end of the video, you can see the watery geyser erupt from the side of the camera’s view and suddenly the window is covered, almost underwater.

At Neskowin, some scary video is taken from a condo balcony, with gargantuan waves pummeling up hundreds of feet of beach all the way to the soil. It first inundates a parking lot in the distance and nearly knocks over someone, then comes precariously close to the condo. See the video here

Giant waves at high tide in Lincoln City! #kingtide #kingtides

Posted by Rock Your World: Pacific NW Gem & Jewelry Gallery on Saturday, January 11, 2020

Down in Lincoln City, the shop Rock Your World: NW Gem & Jewelry Gallery snagged eye-popping video of the SW 33rd access, where gobs of foam had smothered the parking lot. That’s a sure sign the ocean had plopped its way there a few times, making this a dangerous spot to be. Still, in the video you can see many ignoring those clear dangers. See more photos and video here

See Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather
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Watch storm waves live: Oregon Coast Sky Cams - Web Cams, Weather Cams





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