Storm Chronicles: Tale of two caregivers

By CATE GABLE
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Reprinted from the Chinook Observer

Some would say foolhardy, some would say heroic.

Early on December 2, at the height of the storm, Marshall Tate, Klipsan resident and semi-retired pharmacist, was gripping the wheel of his truck and heading to Fred Meyer in Warrenton to report for work.

But let's let him tell the tale, "I left for work two hours early because I knew it was going to be a long, slow, difficult drive. I drove down the Ocean Highway to Illwaco. There were several power lines down which I managed to avoid and many, many trees on the road."

"When I got past Chinook the river was coming over the road. I had to slow down to ten mph because of all the debris. On the other side of the tunnel, high waves were crashing over the highway. I turned the windshield wipers on full but it didn't help. My truck was covered by water for what seemed like an eternity. By this time I had slowed down to two mph to avoid all of the logs and rocks. There were no other vehicles on the road and the wind was howling."

"When I finally made it to the bridge, I remember clutching the steering wheel hard and fighting as the wind kept pushing the truck into the on-coming lane. I looked over and the river looked very angry. When I got to the top, I could feel the whole bridge shaking. Later I heard that the Megler Bridge was closed due to high winds. I guess I got through just before they closed the bridge."

And that was only the beginning of his day!

Fred Meyer was operating on generators and reduced power. Some computers were working but all the fax lines were down, phone service was only available for 861 numbers, and only half the lights were on.

Customers were lined up out the door-at one point Tate counted 100 people in line. Because of the reduced communications capabilities, no prescription could be faxed in or looked up on the computer systems, no physicians could be reached.

In the face of these difficulties, the pharmacists decided to fill every prescription they could, except pain medications, until they started running out of pills. Some Columbia Memorial Hospital doctors, knowing the problem, stopped by to approve customer refills or to write new prescriptions.

Dave Mathre, Fred Meyer pharmacy manager, came in Monday afternoon to help and looked at Tate in amazement, "How did you make it in today!'"

As Tate relates, all the pharmaceutical technicians worked together operating under very difficult circumstances. They found out later that they were the only pharmacy open within a hundred mile radius.

Looking back on those stormy days, Tate says, "Monday and Tuesday were the two most challenging days of my career."

Meanwhile at the Ocean Beach Hospital in Ilwaco, the team of caregivers was pulling together equally-heroically not only to take care of their patients but to provide emergency care to other people who had no power or food.

Carol (Wisner) Moore, born and raised on the peninsula, was an RN on duty at our hospital during the storm and shares her tale.

"We had generator power but not to the back of the building, so some rooms didn't have heat and we couldn't do surgeries. But everyone pulled together. The dietary department made soup because some people who had no power stopped by and needed something to eat. We became an emergency center."

"We had one little lady and man who came in and just stayed. We gave them free meals because they didn't have any light or heat."

Even other staff members who weren't scheduled to work came in to help. One nurse had to wait for the fourteen trees down on her property to be hauled out of the way before she made it in.

Moore says, "What made me feel really good was how people came together. This was a grass-roots, what's-needed effort. It was community-based."

"Even though we are at the end of the world and no one knew about us, I was so proud of everyone. You just go outside of yourself to do what's needed. I think a lot of this area."

So many of the people in our community expressed the same nonchalance that Moore and Tate shared with me about their responses to the storm. As Tate put it, talking about his drive to work through the hurricane, "I was just doing my job trying to help people."


Many of our local caregivers will be attending our post-storm Community Forum on Jan. 26 at the Ocean Park Elementary School to share their stories and to invite further discussion.

If you would like to help with this event, please email Nanci Main at nanci@willapabay.org or call her at 665-5340, and keep your eyes on the Chinook Observer for more information in the coming weeks