Kate Ely News Today

MISSION — The Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation won a two-year $434,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration–National Integrated Drought Information System to develop a Drought Early

PENDLETON — Helicopters buzzed overhead as Pendleton City Manager Robb Corbett helped the sandbagging effort at Riverview Mobile Home Estates on Feb. 6, 2020.

Then conditions changed. As temperatures climbed, snowfall turned to rain, melting mountain snowpack. Runoff poured into the communities below, inundating waterways across Northeast Oregon and Southeast Washington. One research station in Umatilla County recorded waters rising approximately 8 feet in less than 20 hours. The aftermath showed hundreds of homes destroyed, thousands of people evacuated and total damages over $48 million. One life was lost. It was the second consecutive year of high...