Snow In Morton--Mill Roof Collapse

[slowp]

Morton just made the news. Seems that the Hampton Lumber mill roof collapsed putting 120 people out of work. Besides that, a church roof collapsed, another was going, a house and the PUD. Locally, the hardware store storage roof went, and numerous carports. It is our Cascade concrete along with the rain that has fallen on top of it. No people hurt physically.

 

[Spotted Owl]

Morton just made the news. Seems that the Hampton Lumber mill roof collapsed putting 120 people out of work. Besides that, a church roof collapsed, another was going, a house and the PUD. Locally, the hardware store storage roof went, and numerous carports. It is our Cascade concrete along with the rain that has fallen on top of it. No people hurt physically.

That sucks big time. Hampton has been hit real hard in the last few months. Hampton layoffs hit about 3/4 of the workers at our mill and the word then was it was happening all throughout Hamptons holdings.

Owl

 

[MR4WD]

My heart goes out to those folks, but on a hijack:

How much snow did you guys get last night? I got 2', which isn't much I suppose, but even the chained up school bus flipped into the ditch with only the driver aboard. 60mph winds didn't knock out the power or topple any trees, (which I expected) but much of this region and west were "crippled"

Still took me an hour and a half to shovel the 120x40 driveway though. (We don't get the mega wet coastal snow, I'm about 3 hours inland)

 

[slowp]

We have total, a foot and a half compressed hard on the ground. We got rain Sunday night. Just to the east, 18 miles, they got a foot and a half of NEW snow Sunday night. It rained here all night and we might get flooding this week if the weather forecast is correct.

I noticed that a crack in the ceiling of this house has gotten wider, but I think it should be OK. The snow is melting. Maybe I should wear a hardhat around?

I'm hoping that they can find spots for the out of work mill people at their mill here. And some putting the mill in Morton back together.

 

[IndyIan]

I have to ask why you don't shovel your roof off? My parents have a shallow angle roof and it takes very little effort to remove half the snow with a scoop.
I guess if your roof is steep then you have to pull the snow down from the ground. I only like to have a couple tons hanging over my head, not 10 or 20...
Ian

 

[HolmenTree]

Our local Tolko sawmill roof collapsed over the Kilns 2 years ago ,put the planer division out of work for a few months. This mill is over 11 acres under one roof and operates 12 mths per year even in 40 below weather. It was built in 1969 out of solid Douglas fir and red cedar. The rafters for 11 acres ,30 feet off the floor are 2x10 doug fir laminated 20 deep and sheeted in on top with many layers of 1x8 red cedar. The cost to build a mill like this today would be unimaginable.The closest fir and cedar from this mill in The Pas,Manitoba is 2000 miles away on the PNW. This mill is still going strong, on only one shift though, when the 2 shifts were going full bore they had no problem cutting a million board feet a day. I think this mill could be nominated as the 8th wonder of the sawmilling/ planer world.LOL.

 

[slowp]

I have to ask why you don't shovel your roof off? My parents have a shallow angle roof and it takes very little effort to remove half the snow with a scoop.
I guess if your roof is steep then you have to pull the snow down from the ground. I only like to have a couple tons hanging over my head, not 10 or 20...
Ian

Because the doors are all shutting properly and I don't want to climb up on the slippery roof. The snow level is down and it'll be OK. Now our big worry is a flood on Thursday.

 

[ak4195]

Hard way to learn about snow loads,I suspect this is probably a once a century snow event for the PNW,or close to it(or so you hope!).
Good way to learn about snow loads is to get intimate with driveway shoveling.I think modern roofs are built to 25 or 35 lbs/foot specs,that can easily be exceeded with PNW type weather changes.
OT,local news blurb from some tiny village in the interior"Stevens Village",not even sure where that is,but its been -60f for over a week now,the local Postmaster said,I suspect she's new to the bush as she said she had no firewood layed up.So the inside temp was a cheery -30f,everything inside the cabin froze up.Kinda hard to get enthused about getting out of bed in the morning I suspect.
-20 is about the limits of my happiness,but Ill take cold/snow over rain any day of the week.

ak4195

 

[slowp]

It isn't the snow. We've had big snows before. Well, maybe it is. I think it has been so long and buildings were thrown together without remembering that we can get hefty snows. Plus, in the past, it would warm up and melt. Now it has rained on it, then it freezes and snows more, repeat...

Only now it is raining on it. I guess the roof collapse made Morton TV worthy and the Seattle station included Morton in the rain measurements. 4 inches today of rain.

 

[HolmenTree]

It isn't the snow. We've had big snows before. Well, maybe it is. I think it has been so long and buildings were thrown together without remembering that we can get hefty snows. Plus, in the past, it would warm up and melt. Now it has rained on it, then it freezes and snows more, repeat...

Only now it is raining on it. I guess the roof collapse made Morton TV worthy and the Seattle station included Morton in the rain measurements. 4 inches today of rain.

I would love to see and feel some rain right now. Since Nov we've had cold,dry weather. It has been -30C in the mornings for about the last full month.Even had -40 a few days ago [-40C AND -40F are the same]. We only have about 8 inchs of snow accumualated since Nov. and its not going leave until April. Lake ice is over 2 feet thick now,probably will have 4foot in another month. One plus here ,the sun shines brightly every day for about7-8 hrs, when the temps get warmer it is cloudy and snowing.Plus I guess we do have one of the best logging climates in the world with our stable weather. But I would love to see some rain!
Willard

 

[Tree Sling'r]

Sounds like global warming to me. Maybe Al Gore was right...

 

[slowp]

Its official. Our community is cut off. There is flooding and mudslides on both sides of the pass. The big hillside just west of here is starting to move so the mill sent people home. The highway dept. blocked the road there. Somehow, I had a feeling and went shopping last Saturday and got lots of toilet paper and batteries.

 

[Tree Sling'r]

Its official. Our community is cut off. There is flooding and mudslides on both sides of the pass. The big hillside just west of here is starting to move so the mill sent people home. The highway dept. blocked the road there. Somehow, I had a feeling and went shopping last Saturday and got lots of toilet paper and batteries.

So then what are you gonna bake today? Gotta Dutch Oven?
Good Luck, Slowp.

 

[slowp]

So then what are you gonna bake today? Gotta Dutch Oven?
Good Luck, Slowp.

I do have one. And a Coleman oven thingie. I'm thinking about cookies. "Downtown" Randle is flooding. One mini mart flooded, the other I hear is chaos with people crowding to fill gas tanks and get milk. No wind yet, but trees are falling without it because the ground is so wet. Stay tuned. I'll keep reporting until the power goes.

 

[Gologit]

I do have one. And a Coleman oven thingie. I'm thinking about cookies. "Downtown" Randle is flooding. One mini mart flooded, the other I hear is chaos with people crowding to fill gas tanks and get milk. No wind yet, but trees are falling without it because the ground is so wet. Stay tuned. I'll keep reporting until the power goes.

Better get the kayaks ready.

 

[slowp]

Better get the kayaks ready.

Not a bad idea. The prediction for the river rise just got jacked back up to be 5 feet higher than in 2006. That means our neighborhood will probably go.
The Warehouse area is flooded just from melting snow. Our only grocery store is flooding...I am thinking baking cookies might be a calming thing to do.
The crest is now predicted for 4AM.

 

[Metals406]

Not a bad idea. The prediction for the river rise just got jacked back up to be 5 feet higher than in 2006. That means our neighborhood will probably go.
The Warehouse area is flooded just from melting snow. Our only grocery store is flooding...I am thinking baking cookies might be a calming thing to do.
The crest is now predicted for 4AM.

That really sucks! I'm sorry to hear it slowp. We have 24" of standing snow... You guys are sending that warm storm our way, and it's been raining since about 2am. We're expecting some flooding, and perhaps roof problems--but most buildings around these parts are made for an excess snow load.

My bro works running a dam north of Newport, WA. He was on the night shift last night, and he said they were busy as all get-out. Lot's of power outages, and they're expecting flooding. He said in Oldtown/Newport they have more than 48" standing snow... Twice what we have here.

Their area has had something like 25 roof collapses so far.

 

[slowp]

Sounds like Centralia and Chehalis are going to get it hard again. The radio station is saying they are probably going to go off the air while they move.
I am grabbing a bite to eat, then we shovel snow and move pickups to higher ground. The neighbor is moving all her horses to a higher place. There's rumors of some people getting mud slides either close or on their houses, just rumors so far.

 

[Metals406]

Are you in danger? Can you leave?

I'm listening to KELA AM right now...

 

[Metals406]

KELA AM just went off the air... If some of you folks pray--might want to say a few for those WA residents in danger!