NYSSA, Oregon — Police and other responders are actively working to clear the streets after a severe thunderstorm ravaged the community in Nyssa on Wednesday, June 26.
"When we get real bad rain this floods here,” said resident Douglas Dewar.
I asked him if it's ever been this bad he said, “no.”
Residents were shocked after storms left their community damaged.
"Outside of this "Snowmageddon" in 2016 we had a bout 4 feet of snow we had another storm like this about a month ago six weeks ago,” said Dewar.
But not storms of this magnitude, the power is out, streets are flooded, and roads are closed.
“You could see the storm coming and it looked pretty bad. You could see the lightning striking but we thought okay we’ll make it down there and get the car and get out of here,” said Patrick Clark.
Just 30 minutes before the storm Patrick Clark was on his way home to Middleton with a brand-new car... until he was met with rain and strong winds.
“So I pulled in here just to stop for a while and pass by and that's when I sunk. I didn't see that it was a soft shoulder there because it was kind of water across that part and I'm not from around here so there we sit stuck and waiting for a tow truck,” Clark described.
Right across the street at A&W Restaurant, a huge puddle covered the drive-thru, Sharon Fraam’s in-laws own the restaurant she says she didn't anticipate the puddle to be as large.
“Dad was like 'oh well you got to check out the puddle' so I didn’t think it was a big deal, but no that’s a very large puddle,” said Sharon Fraam.
Residents were quick to clean up the damage they could, but tress are still scattered across the town. Nyssa police advise travelers traveling east or west through Nyssa will have to detour through Ontario or Adrian due to fallen trees on train tracks.
At this time, police are asking residents to remain in their homes unless absolutely necessary. They are also asking that people avoid South Hwy 201 between Nyssa and Adrian as there are power lines down in the area.
Officers are reporting power lines down and laying in water as well as trees about to fall over around the city.
Police are asking drivers to not drive quickly through the water on the roads following the storm. They're also asking for the public to report fallen power lines to Malheur County Dispatch as they work to clear the area of hazards.
Following the storm, Idaho Power is reporting two outages in the Nyssa area effecting an estimated 4,000 customers.
