Residents of Dodson’s unincorporated community in the Columbia River Gorge may return home after authorities lifted an evacuation order they issued last week due to flash floods and landslides.
Meanwhile, officials in the country’s emergency management said in a news release that they were still repairing the body of a local woman whose car was swept away in a rubble stream while she was driving home on January 13. Work continued Sunday as crew members removed debris from the slide, according to an email from Chris Liedle in the sheriff’s communications unit in Multnomah County.
Last week, the sheriff identified the missing person as 50-year-old Jennifer Moore of Warrendale. She disappeared after the SUV she was driving in was overturned by a landslide near the intersection of Northeast Frontage Road and the Ainsworth State Park off-ramp of I-84, near Dodson.
In the early morning hours of January 13, authorities requested about 25 households in the area to evacuate after excessive rains caused several landslides and debris flow in and near the community.
According to a provincial news release, Multnomah County officials revoked the evacuation orders after reviewing a preliminary report from engineers hired by the county to assess the hills south of Dodson. The area burned in the 2017 Eagle Creek wildfire.
The geologists appointed by the province “noted that there are inherent risks to living in this area of the Columbia River Gorge, and that the risks of debris at the site should be higher than nominal levels,” according to the province.
Provincial officials plan to release a final version of the geologists’ report.
– Hillary Borrud