By Patricia Maier
What was most prevalent about the recent meeting on flood recovery at the Pendleton Convention Center, which was organized by Sen. Ron Wyden’s representative, was that the messages did not reflect what the people need, and that is personal aid in not only cleanup, but assistance during cleanup.
We heard of the need for clean drinking water, the need of propane, the need of living quarters, and need by individuals with financial means to rebuild their banks, dikes, bridges, and repair structures. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) representative seemed to be the most caring and explained their aid was not just for tribal members as the reservation is checker-bordered with non-tribal homes.
The representatives at the meeting did not offer any aid but did offer different agencies who might be able to assist. One lady said that Banner Bank offered a no interest loan with a payback of five years.
The west side of our state should really be concerned about the lack of action responding to this emergency, because if they have a catastrophic event and Portland is involved, we feel they are not ready for the damage and financial stress on individual citizens.
Examples people stated were: After FEMA arrived in the first two weeks after the flood, FEMA stated they would be back within two weeks. They haven’t reappeared yet. We also heard today the governor and the Oregon federal congress people had requested a declaration of emergency from President Trump. Why did it take her a month before requesting this? Some felt her taxing us through cap and trade was much more important to her than the suffering of citizens of her state.
People sitting next to us were landowners and paying taxes on the land under the running water and were told by the state to stay out of the stream and not to rebuild any banks, levies, or bridges that washed away. They believe they have little time to protect themselves as the next flood from the current snow pack is a good melt away and will flood again.
One woman stated that CAPCO couldn’t help them because her $11-an-hour wage and her husband’s $200 a week wasn’t considered low enough income. She stated they were living in a borrowed RV and needed propane.
Having dealt with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers before, asked what their plan was for clearing the stream beds. They stated they had none.
So this leaves a question. Why doesn’t the county, state and federal governments get a plan of attack and then get out of the way so it can be implemented by the people affected. Because the government is ill prepared or incompetent to plan and initiate a plan doesn’t mean those of us that deal with issues every day are.
We at Ukiah are still waiting to clear the name of one contractor who in 2019 cleared enough of the dry stream bed in his area and his neighbors that prevented everyone from flooding this year due to more area in the stream bed to carry water. But rather than giving him an award, the state told him to stop work and the Corp of Engineers stated they will penalize him which could be a fine, or to plant trees in the stream (which on Walla Walla showed those trees made the stream go further out of its banks in this year’s flood), etc. Appears that we have been waiting six months now, but almost a year from the last flood. Perhaps the northern part of Umatilla County will have an answer by winter?
Patricia Maier is a resident of Hermiston and Ukiah and is currently a candidate for Umatilla County commissioner.
