A car rests in the median of Interstate 5 north of Albany, while police work at crash scenes farther up the freeway on Thursday Feb. 6. More than 40 vehicles were involved in wrecks on the southbound lanes of the roadway -- but an earlier storm had helped cities and counties gear up for icy weather.
Mark Ylen, Democrat-Herald
David Patton | Albany Democrat-Herald
Roger Humble walks his dog Ty down South Main Road in Lebanon after droping his car off at Les Schwab to have snow tires mounted during the February storm, which hammered the mid-valley. Photographer David Patton says that this was one of his favorite shots of 2014. Typically, Patton says, he'll hop into his car to get a variety of photos when a big weather event like this one hits the valley. Not this time: He couldn't get his car out of his driveway, so all his shots that day were taken on foot. For more of Patton's top shots from 2014, see page 13.
The winter of 2013-14 produced a tale of two storms for the city of Corvallis.
Up to 8 inches of snow fell Dec. 6, 2013, a once-in-20-years weather event.
Ol’ man winter, however, was just getting warmed up, so to speak. Almost exactly two months later nearly 20 inches of white stuff were dumped on Corvallis and throughout the mid-valley.
The outcomes were dramatically different, though. The December 2013 storm paralyzed the city, with ice still a factor well into the next week.
However, in storm two, after some soul searching about emergency preparedness, the city shined, using cooperative agreements to get more equipment on the roads, which were cleared quicker, which made for happier residents.
The February storm was among the G-T's top news stories of 2014, as measured by web traffic to the newspaper's website.
“We were more prepared at the front end,” said then-City Manager Jim Patterson of the February storm. “We had a plan in place, we had better communication, and we reached out (for help). And I’m real grateful for the support from Benton County and Linn County.”
As part of a mutual aid agreement the city reached with the two other agencies after the December storm, Benton County chipped in with two snow plows and Linn County provided three high-speed plows and crews.
Among the other changes the city made after the December storm, outlined in a report delivered Jan. 20 to the Corvallis City Council, were:
• Providing more links and information on the city website, corvallisoregon.gov.
• Improved cross-training for employees.
• Working more closely with other agencies and private sector companies on equipment.
There were some meteorological advantages to tackling the second storm, particularly the fact that higher temperatures in February aided the melting process.
And snow removal and coordination always will be a challenge for a town the size of Corvallis given that another agency, the Oregon Department of Transportation, is responsible for Highway 20, Highway 34 and Highway 99.
But there was no denying that between December and February, city officials put their heads together and came away with a plan that would keep the ice at bay.
A car rests in the median of Interstate 5 north of Albany, while police work at crash scenes farther up the freeway on Thursday Feb. 6. More than 40 vehicles were involved in wrecks on the southbound lanes of the roadway -- but an earlier storm had helped cities and counties gear up for icy weather.
Roger Humble walks his dog Ty down South Main Road in Lebanon after droping his car off at Les Schwab to have snow tires mounted during the February storm, which hammered the mid-valley. Photographer David Patton says that this was one of his favorite shots of 2014. Typically, Patton says, he'll hop into his car to get a variety of photos when a big weather event like this one hits the valley. Not this time: He couldn't get his car out of his driveway, so all his shots that day were taken on foot. For more of Patton's top shots from 2014, see page 13.
