PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 10 (UPI) — At least two people have died in Oregon due to devastating storms that have damaged homes, roads and caused mudslides.
Roberta “Bobbi” Elleson, 60, died after a fir tree crashed into the roof of the one-story Portland home she shared with her husband, Dennis Elleson.
Dennis was watching a YouTube video on a smartphone when the tree crashed through the roof at about 3:40 a.m. on Wednesday. A few hours before, Roberta moved to a different bedroom so she could sleep.
“I ran in the bedroom and she was moaning,” Dennis Elleson told The Oregonian. “I went to her side and told her, ‘Hang on. Hang on.’”
The tree was too large to budge and Roberta was pinned to the bed. She was not speaking.
“I was trying to reach my hands underneath and pull out everything that I could,” he said. “I couldn’t even feel her body. I jumped over the tree and tried to find a place to give her air. I saw her leg drop and I knew she died.”
Dennis said he plans to speak with a lawyer because he said he warned the owner of the property multiple times about the encroaching fir, which previously caused damage to Roberta’s van.
“On like four occasions I mentioned to him about the tree being lopsided,” Dennis said. “It was a needless death.”
Later on Wednesday in Clatskanie, an elderly woman drowned after the car in which she was a passenger completely submerged in standing high water.
In the incident, an elderly couple was traveling in a closed area of the highway. The male driver was able to get out of the car after he drove into standing water, which carried the car into even deeper water where it sunk.
Clatskanie firefighters responded to an emergency call and found the man standing on top of his car. He was found nearly waist-deep in water. The woman was found dead at the scene. It is unclear if the man will face criminal charges.
“Northwest Oregon was hit hard by wind and record-setting rain this week, closing roads, causing slides and prompting evacuations,” the Oregon Department of Transportation said in a statement late Wednesday about the storms that started on Monday. “Crews continue to make progress cleaning up the slides and debris, and some high water spots have receded.”
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