Vernonia churches,

like entire town, cope with the flood

By RICHARD KOE
   VERNONIA — “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going,” is probably the best cliché to describe the Christian community’s response when this timber town’s Nehalem River overflowed its banks Dec. 3 after two monster Pacific storms pelted the area for 24 straight hours.
   Pastor Grant Williams and members of Vernonia Community Church at 957 State St. quickly responded to the needs of their families and neighbors, saving as much of their belongings as they could and cleaning up the muck and debris from homes and buildings.
   The task was immense, to say the least. Williams and church volunteers were busy most hours of the day. Much of Vernonia, including its downtown streets, were flooded except for the higher elevations.   In some cases, water came up to people’s waists, and 400 were rescued by the National Guard.
   Williams said it takes six to eight weeks to recover from such a flood. All the debris must be cleaned up, houses and buildings repaired, and in some cases,. rebuilt. A large open area by Vernonia’s City Hall served as a temporary dump.
   In addition, utilities have to be restored, and water was in short supply.
   As for the city’s churches, Williams said his church was not flooded although the water affected the water heater, furnaces, and storage area, just like in the 1996 flood. Worship was held the following Sunday, but many were unable to attend because of the flooding.
    The Northwest Baptist Witness reported that a crew from an Albany church, Knox Butte Baptist, came to Vernonia to scrape mud from the floors at First Baptist Church. The church’s sanctuary and education building were flooded up to one foot inside. The volunteers cleaned the church interior, drying floors and the crawl space, so that the church could have worship services the following Sunday.
   Vernonia Community Church also served as a temporary home for a first-grade class from the town’s flooded school. Kelly Murphy-Shaw, a church member and public school teacher, held class for some 28 students at the church for two weeks. Several other church members are also public school teachers.

   Williams has been pastor at Vernonia Community Church for 14 years; the church was started in 1924. About 85 to 100 people regularly attend Sunday services there. Williams has a master of divinity degree from Multnomah Biblical Seminary, and is now working on a doctorate from Western Seminary in Portland. He also has helped distribute Christian News Northwest in the community.
   Three other churches in Vernonia suffered flood damage, including the Assembly of God, Christ-ian, and Nehalem Bible Church. Some had to close down but were able to join for combined worship. Williams said Vernonia’s pastors and churches are a close-knit group and enjoy each other’s fellowship.
   Many outside groups and volunteers also came to the logging town’s rescue, including grocery chains, prisoners, and Christian organizations. Riverside Community Church in Rainier offered to receive household items for flood victims, and Kathye Beck was busy on the phones.
Tigard-based Medical Teams International (formerly Northwest Medical Teams) came to the aid of a Vernonia dentist, Dr. Christopher Schevermann, by providing a mobile dental van to allow him to continue practice while the town’s only dental clinic undergoes repairs.
   Another local nonprofit relief and missions group, Forward Edge International of Vancouver, Wash., an-nounced on Dec. 18 that it would mobilize volunteers to help those with immediate needs in Vernonia, such as cleaning, gutting houses, and supporting families with a long-term recovery effort.
   A crucial component to its response is partnership with churches in the flood zones to ensure that For-ward Edge comes alongside the local people to blest and serve the community.
   It is also teaming up with a Portland-area carpet and flooring dealer to provide discounted flooding for flood victims. Donations to assist with flood relief can be made online at www.forwardedge.org Some facts about the flooding in Vernonia from the Hillsboro Argus: •Several hundred meals were prepared for evacuees in this town of 2,400 people in Columbia County north of Highway 26. Eighty people spent Dec. 4 in a shelter, and four shelters were opened in parts of the city separated by flood waters.
  •The Nehalem River flood level was 18.59 feet, three feet above ground, and Highway 47 into town was reopened and power restored 15 hours after the flooding. Four feet of water flooded homes built at ground level.
  •Longtime Vernonia residents who experienced the last time the Nehalem River spilled over its banks and into the city’s streets in 1996, improvised a system to keep track of the needs of flood victims and the resources to help them. The system worked with the use of computers and a database at City Hall.
   The Oregonian observed the experience of the 1996 flood undoubtedly helped Vernonia cope with the first stages of recovery in the 2007 flood. This time the water rose faster and higher than 11 years ago.
  The Federal Emergency Management Agency said many of Vernonia’s homes affected are in the 500-year flood plain, meaning there is a 0.2 percent chance of a storm flooding the area annually.