Oregon City family gets washed out
Family loses their link to the outside world after hillside collapses during storm
Oregon City resident Jay Younger stands on one of two collapsed culverts that used to contain Potter Creek. Excessive rain and floodwaters swept away an entire hillside and flattened the culverts, which led to the destruction of part of the family’s driveway.
Ellen Spitaleri / Oregon City News
Stacy and Jay Younger never thought they’d need flood insurance. After all, their house is located just off Redland Road, 75 feet above Potter Creek, up a steep and circuitous driveway.
But on the night of Jan. 1, placid little Potter Creek, swollen with an excess of rainwater, became a raging torrent that literally swept away the hillside below their home, taking out part of their asphalt driveway — and their connection to the world.
“A tree crushed the first culvert and the water found its way into raw dirt and ‘ate’ it,” Jay Younger said.
His wife described the destruction this way: “The culvert was covered with earth, and it had been functioning and happy for 30 years, and then an amazing amount of earth was washed away in a moment’s notice. It is hard to visualize how much land is gone.”
The couple discovered the situation early on Jan. 2, when “some neighbors across the street became aware of what happened, and they didn’t want me to come flying down the hill and drive the car into the creek,” Stacy Younger said.
She and her husband walked down to the edge of the creek and saw that the entire hillside had disappeared. In addition, the two culverts that contained Potter Creek were crushed; four downed trees were in the creek and the water was eight to 10 feet higher than normal.
The couple and their two children, ages 7 and 10, were essentially marooned; the only way to the street was on foot, down a precipitous driveway, through the neighbor’s yard and down some steps.
“We called the county emergency number and they came out, and told us they could not help us because [the event occurred] on private property. Because the county was declared a disaster area, you think there’s help, but there isn’t,” Stacy Younger said.
Their insurance company came out, and although they have not received a final answer, the company probably won’t help, as they do not have flood insurance.
Getting out
The family’s cars were in a garage by the house, so the first step for the Youngers was to get their cars out to the street.
“My husband was my hero. He and the neighbor dug up shrubs to make room for the cars. Then they smoothed out the hillside and cut a one-way, one-trip road down the steep, muddy hill and through the neighbor’s yard, using commercial, marine plywood,” Stacy Younger said.
At that point, she could get to her job at Kaiser Sunnyside, but her husband, a custom fine-furniture maker with his own company, Jay Younger Woodworks, has been unable to resume work, as he cannot get materials up the steep driveway to his shop.
When the couple called in experts to find out what to do about the situation, they were shocked to learn that a bridge over the creek could cost them as much as $100,000.
Because Potter Creek is home to Coho salmon, steelhead and cut-throat trout, they can’t build a similar basic culvert and driveway. Any new structure must also take into account the steepness of the slope and must protect the hillside from erosion, the couple said.
They considered a flatcar bridge, which is essentially an old railroad car used as a bridge, but found they could not do that either, because of the hillside and the impossibility of getting equipment to the other side of bank.
Any span would have to go 27 feet across the creek, which is 13 feet down, and take into account the two 40-foot-long culverts and the steepness of the hill, Stacy Younger said.
“We are looking at getting an ATV with a tiny truck bed,” to haul goods and people up the driveway, Jay Younger said, adding that ultimately they are looking for a solution that will not “devastate” them financially.
“We are looking at a [Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board] grant through the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which helps find fish-friendly solutions,” Stacy Younger said, adding that the grant would only pay part of the expenses, and they won’t find out until the end of March if they have received the grant.
“There are huge water-rights issues — we can’t mess with the creek,” she noted.
So, for now, they walk.
On a nice sunny day, Stacy Younger said, she would not mind the hike up the driveway, but on a cold, dark, rainy day, laden with groceries and accompanied by two young, tired children, it’s exhausting.
In addition, Younger is recovering from major surgery and chemotherapy treatments for ovarian cancer that have led to a nerve disorder in her feet.
“That makes it extra hard. The solution for the feet is not to be on them,” she said.
“The family has gone through a challenging time [since November of 2007, when she discovered she had cancer], and then this happened,” she added.
Their neighborhood has pulled together to help them, the Youngers said.
“We have great neighbors who came out and helped with sandbags, and helped pull debris out of the creek,” Jay Younger said.
The hillside, driveway and culverts “withstood the ’96 flood,” Stacy Younger said, adding, “Our neighbor has lived here for 40 years, and has never seen anything like it.”