Flooding in Oregon, February 16, 1999

Extremely heavy swells that were built by storms moving over the Eastern Pacific hit the NW Oregon and SW Washington Coasts. The worst of the damage occurred within 2 hours either side of the high tide times which were around noon. Big waves tossed tons of logs and other debris onto US Hwy. 101 near the towns of Neskowin and Rockaway--closing the road. Several reports of logs being tossed onto and through structures were received throughout Oregon. Parts of beaches and dunes eroded several feet. A motel owner in Lincoln City, Oregon remarked that it was the worst coastal flood he had seen in 15 years. At 11:00 AM PST Mo's Restaurant in Cannon, Beach, Oregon was hit by a wave-borne log that broke four plate glass windows. Fortunately, the manager had closed the business that day in order to prevent injuries during the storm. River traffic on the entire Columbia River system was stalled when ships could not navigate the Mouth of the Columbia River due to extremely dangerous waves breaking at the Columbia River Bar. The Bar was closed between 10:00 AM PST and 8:30 PM PST.