Preparing for disasters, remembering the Columbus Day Storm

[@cozyafloatisme]

As a 15 year old growing up in Portland, I'd never experienced such winds! I was visiting a friend when the sky turned black with many "pimple" clouds poking down which caught the setting sun and turned to gold. Never had I seen such a dramatic sky, but I decided it was time to high-tail it home through Grant Park alongside 33rd Avenue. The wind increased and was screaming through the tall fir trees in the park and as I neared the 35th Avenue exit from the park I could hear massive old growth trees hitting the ground with mighty thumps. Boy, I was glad I'd gotten out of that park when I did. Two blocks to home but by then there were power or phone lines in the street. I skedaddled into our home to find my five-foot tall mother trying to push a half sheet of 1/4 inch plywood towards a broken window upstairs on the south side of the house. She pushed and the wind pushed back, and not until I arrived to help did she get that panel to the window frame which I held while she fetched some nails and a hammer. Some shingles had flown off the neighbor's house below us, breaking the window. The next morning our NE Portland neighborhood was a mess with poles, wires, trees and garbage cans strewn about as if a giant had had a temper tantrum! The clouds were beautiful, the mess and drama not so much!

[@kevinsbookcase59]

I was 3 years old, but I remember that storm so much. I lived on the corner of SE 87th & Cora St. We had huge picture windows overlooking Eastport Plaza. It got really dark and my Mom & I were watching the storm coming in when my Dad came flying in the front door from work yelling for us to get in the basement. He was born and raised in Missouri, so he knew what was going on. The following day, looking at the damage around the neighborhood.. trees, poles, garbage was everywhere. The only damage to our house was from the top of the tree right next to the house, putting a hole in the roof, but that was it!!!

[@MarkSwitzer-h1n]

I was six years old , and living in Midway , Washington when the Columbus Day Storm of 1962 hit . Winds reached 115 m.p.h. in Renton , Washington . Cars were litterally blown off of the road . Many homes and businesses were damaged as well. I remember I was afraid to go to bed that night . The Columbus Day Storm of 1962 caused widespread damage and was the worst storm to hit the Northwest since 1880 . Mark E. Switzer

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Oregon did take the biggest hit from that monster of a storm...but even in Washington State, the damage and trauma from the storm was unbelievable!...Several Puget Sound areas recorded gusts of wind around 100mph...in Seattle, where I was living as a 15yold kid, the winds held steady at 50mph, and gusted up to 90 at times...The storm was winding down, but still did lots of damage, all the way up to the Canadian border. I was delivering newspapers in the late afteronon, when that incredible wind cranked up, over a period of maybe 20 minutes, from 10mph to 50-80mph...and the intensity lasted for a good four hours. We have experienced a few other, smaller, but nearly as powerful storms over the last 60 years, but they just were not even close to the sustained intensity of "The Big Blow"...I will never forget that amazing storm!

[@christopherchick6419]

I remember the Columbus Day Storm. We lived in Tacoma, I was maybe 6 or 7 back then. Prior to the storm, my mother made me place big rocks on our garbage can lids because she didn'twant the lids to blow off. Back then, we all had those round metal garbage-cans with lids. Like everyone else, our cans were out at the curb. After the storm was over, our 2 garbage cans were absolutely gone!

[@thathobbitlife]

This happened the day after my late Mother's 16th birthday. She lived in Troutdale at the house aside the old Multnomah Co Greyhound Track. It was sooooo bad. I remember her stories about it all. Wild stuff!

[@ChrisGarza57]

Hi there, the Troutdale Historical Society is doing a free program on the Columbus Day Storm on Oct 20th 2024. We are looking for people to share their stories if you are interested, we would love to hear them.

[@babbyfacerevocation2740]

Back in the 1980s a wind storm hit Eugene Springfield Oregon. 2 days before there was a cobweb flapping in the wind and my dad said there's a storm coming I can tell by the cobwebs shaking. Sure enough he can read it like you read a book 📖 no joke this morning May 29th 2024 I seen the same thing about 10:00.

[@mikem3388]

Is that climate change too?

[@richardschnacker9160]

Yes i agree

[@rosemarykriegel3226]

My older siblings made it home with mom's help in the car. I spent the night in a bathtub filled with blankets and pillows with my girlfriend. It was the only room in her house without windows. We were six years old.

[@Brianscoronet]

I remember it well, I was 5.5 years old, lived in se Salem Oregon, no power for a week, lost a window and some roofing shingles. The next day gorgeous sunny day, debris everywhere u looked. I still have my parents Coleman stove and lantern we used that week without power, I'm 67 years old now.