Boil Water Order Issued for Vader residents

There has been a "Boil Water" order issued for residents of Vader and Enchanted Valley. The city of Vader's water system has not been working properly and the system has had several water line breaks. Click here to see The Daily News for more information.

Weather Updates

Cowlitz County appears to be in the clear for flooding issues so far. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the Grays, Nehalem and Willapa Rivers, but not for any of the rivers in our county. The storm system will weaken by late tonight and weather conditions should even out tomorrow and for the weekend. Stay tuned for any changes.

We've Only Just Begun...

....to raaaaain...Yes, two Carpenters song references in one week. Anyway, the hard working folks in the Department of Emergency Management participated in both the Portland and Seattle National Weather Service (NWS) briefings this morning. The NWS is following a developing weather front off the coast that will move in tonight and another front that will arrive tomorrow morning. High winds are expected on the Oregon and Washington coasts, but will dissipate as they reach Cowlitz County. The wind is not expected to be as strong as the storm that we experienced on Monday. The Lower Columbia/Cowlitz Valley area can expect 10 mph-15 mph sustained winds with 25-30 mph gusts. There will be intermittent heavy rain with this storm but not in amounts expected to cause flooding for our area. There have been no high wind or flood warnings issued for Cowlitz County. The NWS forecasts another storm system will arrive in our area over the weekend.

Windy Days and Mondays....

...or something like that. At any rate, hold on to your figurative hats because it's about to get windy! The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory from 7:00 pm this evening until 4:00 am tomorrow for the Lower Columbia region and the I-5 corridor of Southwest Washington. South winds are expected to increase to 25-35 mph with gusts of 45 mph during the evening and continuing overnight. The winds are being produced ahead of a strong Pacific cold front and will decrease by sunrise on Tuesday morning as the cold front moves in. Sounds like a good night to stay inside and play Monopoly. I get to be the top hat!

Hazard Mitigation Open Houses

Do you need information about how to prepare for winter storms? Do you want information about how your local government and emergency responders plan to minimize the effects of natural hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and winter storms? The Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management is holding three meetings on November 19th at the following locations throughout Cowlitz County:

10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m.---Castle Rock Exhibit Hall (147 Front Street)

2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.---Woodland City Hall (230 Davidson Street)

7:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m.---Cowlitz County PUD Auditorium (961 12th Ave, Longview)

Attendees will learn how to prepare for a winter storm and receive advice on what actions to take during a storm event. Additionally, staff from the Cowlitz Wahkiakum Council of Governments will present information about the current planning process for the county's Hazard Mitigation Plan. This important plan includes specific actions and programs necessary to minimize the losses during future natural disasters. The discussion will include a proposed scope of work for completing the federal update requirements and information on how the public can participate in the planning process.

Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting to learn about the hazards affecting our county and the Hazard Mitigation Plan update process. For more information, please contact Matt Hermen or T.J. Keiran at (360) 577-3041.

Spring Ahead, Fall Back

Daylight saving time was last weekend, did you change your smoke detector batteries? I know I'm a little late to the party, story of my life, but daylight saving time is not only a great time to change out your smoke detector batteries, but also to rotate out some of the stored food and water that you have in your emergency kits. Some dried, canned and otherwise non-perishable foods are ok to consume a little past their prime, but if you have granola bars in your kit that were made when Clinton was in office, you may want to consider tossing them. Also, pay attention to the dates on your bottled water. It may seem like water should last forever (which it does) but the plastic containers do not. Eventually plastics (especially PET, PETE, and HDPE types, generally 1's and 2's in the little recycling triangle) begin to degrade and leach chemicals into the water. After the plastic is beyond its "use by" date, it's best just to dump it out and recycle the container. On a slightly related note, does anyone else find daylight saving time vaguely disturbing? The fact that someone can just say, "ok, now it's 6:00, not 7:00", and that's just the way it is? It's not only that, it's the fact that "time" i.e. hours, minutes, seconds, is merely a concept constructed by own minds in order to attempt to quantify infinity. Ok, no more coffee today.

Cooking in the Dark, An Additional Class

Response to the "Cooking in the Dark" classes have been overwhelming and we are now full! I have added a third class on December 1st, 6:00 pm, General Meeting Room of the Cowlitz County Administration Building (third floor), 207 N. 4th Ave. If you are interested in this hands-on learning opportunity and have not signed up yet, please send me an email at DEM@co.cowlitz.wa.us or call the office at 577-3130 to sign up.