News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Amazing ice formations appeared on Whychus Creek.
When the thermometer hits 20 below, it's trouble.
Trouble starting cars, trouble with frozen pipes, trouble with electrical power.
When a hard cold snap hit Sisters last week, all that trouble came down, with a capital "T." Power went out at 2:34 a.m. on Tuesday morning (see related story, page 1). The outage left many houses that rely on electricity for heat very cold.
Pipes froze in homes and businesses across Sisters. Fuel gelled up in the high school generators, causing boiler coils to fail and water to leak out in the school. Some frozen pipes also caused problems in the sprinkler system.
School was canceled on Tuesday. No heat and frozen pipes were not the district's only problems. Diesel fuel gelled in the tanks, despite efforts to pump conditioner into the fuel systems. Transportation director, Angie Gardenier, told the school board Wednesday night that the ethanol content in the fuel makes it more susceptible to gelling in extreme cold.
Bus mechanic Gene O'Brien worked on the busses all day Tuesday to get them going, but the overnight chill left the fleet crippled again on Wednesday morning. Classes were delayed by two hours on both Wednesday and Thursday due to problems getting the bus fleet going.
Private vehicles had starting problems, too.
The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department and other agencies initiated the Greater Sisters Emergency Plan to deal with the potential problems associated with the power outage.
As Central Electric Cooperative realized that restoring power would take 24 hours in some areas, authorities called for voluntary evacuation for those unprepared to weather a subzero night with no power. In the event, few people used a Red Cross shelter at Sisters Elementary School. Many stayed in place and some left their homes to stay with friends or family who either had power or an alternate source of heat.
The cold snap eased late in the week and the weekend turned out sunny and relatively warm. As the Sisters Country thawed out, the new week was predicted to bring warmer temperatures but a dose of snow and rain.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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