Work Continues on our water system as we near the half-way point. The contractor will complete work on Madrone early next week then start on the south end of Spruce. Hilltop will become the center of activities on or about March 20, 2019.
When Hilltop is completed, the southern part of the park will be finished. Lots 1-6 will be next, followed by Lots 7 – 11. A big thanks to our members for their cooperation and patience.
How prepared were you for the Snowmagedden that hit Timber Valley last week?
I thought I was prepared. I had a Go Bag packed in the car. I made a trek out to the car to retrieve it. First thing I see is a clever pill box meant to hold eight days of meds, EMPTY, NOW FILLED! Found the crank radio. A smart purchase, but the battery was never charged, and it takes a whole lot of cranking to get even a little power, I have since fully charged it before putting it back in the bag. Checked the clothes. Adequate. But changing blouses for T shirts. More practical. As the hours and days went on and I had read the 3 fiction books in the house I wished for a good thick novel, or a copy of a favorite book.
A deck of cards and a puzzle book will be good additions to the Go Bag.
What I did right: I had a fully charged device to recharge I phone or I pad. Considering the phone most important I was able to check in with family every day. Sometime back I was given a Coleman head lamp. Battery operated. Worn on the head. Never thought I would use it and I had tucked it away to be passed on. That thing was priceless. It has earned a permanent spot in the Go Bag. My battery operated motion detector lights worked well. My portable radios could work on batteries but they were empty. Not any more, and I have restocked my battery supply. And before you think I forgot, there is a pack of a 72 hour supply of freeze dried food for me and a bag of dog food for Rita. A case of water is also kept in the car.
Mistakes were made and lessons learned. But I will be better prepared if another power outage hits, but please, no more snow.
Helaine
The flags were flown at half staff on March 4 to mark the passing of Les Lyons, lot 4, Timber Valley sends it deepest sympathies to his wife Jean, their family and friends.
Heavy wet snow storms dumped on the Umpqua Valley this past week, not only making travel extremely difficult, but taking down power lines by fallen trees, limbs and breaking power poles throughout the Umpqua Valley and other parts of Oregon. Even though we weren’t in the park, we were very connected to what was going on. Communication in the area was hampered by unreliable cell connections. Calls and text were spotty and difficult going out. Receiving calls and texts was better. Because we weren’t in the Park, Thom was able to gather information from various sources and then get it out on Rained Out, a text based alert system, to update members on the progress for return of power and where resources, like fuel or propane, became available.
A brief summary:
Power at Timber Valley went out about 7:40 pm Sunday, Feb 24, when the power pole supplying the Park went down. At its peak over 45,000 customers in and beyond the Roseburg area were without power. It was unknown how long it would take for power to return. On top of that add sustained below freezing temperatures. This was a true emergency such that the governor eventually declared it a disaster area. The biggest struggle was keeping warm. Generators need gas and furnaces need propane. Without electricity, gas stations can’t pump gas and propane can’t be pumped into a tank.
Power returned to the Park about 11:30 pm Thursday night, Feb 28. Who could imagine it would be over 4 days without electricity. But it could be worse: current news reports state that some parts of the Umpqua Valley may not have power for 1 to 3 weeks due to the amount of devastation. Some members of Timber Valley managed to remain in the Park for the entire time, but many needed to leave seeking heat and other needed services. Some units sustained damage from trees and tree branches and others from collapsed awnings that couldn’t hold the weight of so much wet snow. Randy and some hardy volunteers trudged through deep snow and worked in the cold wet elements removing trees, branches, and clearing streets.
Not only was this a time for self reliance, it was a time of neighbor helping neighbor, of this community pulling together to help one another in every way possible.
Clean up continues and members are gradually returning and assessing their situations. There is much to share of experiences, lessons learned and conversations to be held on how members and the Park can be better prepared to face these kinds of emergency situations in the future.
Can’t take credit for this… found it floating around my email. Think Carol Harding had something to do with it….
Thanks for the “light” moment and for recognizing those who worked so hard to get us somewhat back to normal.
For reasons that are obvious to most of us, the February Jacks and Jills Meeting was cancelled due to lack of power and heat and crashing trees and piles of wet snow.
But, now that we’re all warm and full of power again, the “belated” February Meeting will be held on
Wednesday, March 6th, at 1pm.
If you’re in the park, please join us, won’t you?
Power is Back!
Came back on last night, Thursday night, late… about 11:30, after more than 4 cold and miserable days. We’ll all have a lot to talk about over the next few days… the things we’ve learned from the experience… and how we can better prepare for things like this happening in the future. We’ll also have new articles here on the website about the big outage of 2019 and its after-effects.
But for now it’s time to get your home back in order again.
Gene Fisher and the PCM committee have created a document for the purpose of helping all of us fight above-ground leaks on our lots. This helpful 4 page document goes over the main causes of leaks caused by ageing hoses, hose washers, and freezing weather, as well as the solutions to each of these problems. They ask all members to keep vigilant for any leaks, however small.
Here’s a link to the document: Water Leaks Cost Money
I’ve also inserted a link to this document on the Members Only page for future reference.
News from Gene Fisher….
Hello All,
I am pleased to declare that the water system is now under our control!
We can now separate the Park into thirteen water control zones that can be controlled separately from the others.
We will add at least one new control vale and about six isolation valves to further separate some of these zones so that one side of each street can be separately controlled.
I really believe this is cause for a national holiday!
IFPL III
