Weather Havoc
Crews from the City of Florence Public Works and Central Lincoln PUD continue cleanup and restoration efforts following wind and rain from an atmospheric river that swept through the area. Downed trees and power lines caused widespread outages across Florence and surrounding communities. As of this morning, more than twelve hundred customers remained without power, primarily north of Heceta Beach Road. The hardest-hit areas include Sutton, Mercer Lake, South View, and the Heceta Head Lighthouse, accounting for roughly nine hundred of those outages. Yesterday’s storm impacts were significant. Around midday Thursday, businesses and residents north of 35th Street in Florence were without power for several hours, with nearly four thousand customers in the 97439 ZIP code affected. Downed trees and power lines forced the closure of the intersection of 35th Street and Rhododendron Drive, and a truck crash on Highway 126 near milepost 23 reduced traffic to one lane, causing delays. The wind advisory for the area has been lifted, but a flood watch remains in effect until four p.m. Friday, with a flood advisory continuing through four p.m. today. Crews are expected to remain in the field as weather conditions allow and restoration work continues.
Local Couple Survives Harrowing Plane Crash
A Florence couple is recovering after surviving a small plane crash in rural Nevada Wednesday. According to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to reports of a downed single-engine aircraft near U.S. Highway 50 in Silver Springs. Authorities say a Mooney M20C went down in an area off the highway near the Silver Springs Airport. Deputies located two occupants and a dog inside the aircraft. Both passengers required assistance from fire and EMS crews to exit and were airlifted to a local hospital. No other injuries or property damage were reported. The Federal Aviation Administration says the crash occurred around 10:30 Wednesday morning. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board have been notified. Locally, the pilot has been identified as Mark Eugene Wright of Florence, who was traveling with his wife and their dog. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. However Coast Radio has learned from a person close to the couple that the accident occurred after the pilot Wright was making a second attempt at a landing and while climbing to altitude a strong gust of wind inverted the plane causing it crash.
Student Wins APP Challenge
A Siuslaw High School junior is being recognized for an app designed to help senior citizens connect with local students for everyday assistance. Rylan Pierce has won Oregon’s Fourth District Congressional App Challenge for developing a prototype that matches seniors who need help with tasks like grocery shopping, yard work, or picking up prescriptions with high school students available to help. Pierce designed the app with simplicity in mind, gathering feedback from older adults to refine its layout and features. He built the project using skills learned in Siuslaw High School’s information technology program. As the district winner, Pierce will travel to Washington, D.C., in the spring of 2026 to be recognized and meet with Congresswoman Val Hoyle.
Special Town Hall
The Florence City Council will hold a special meeting Monday, January fifth, at five-thirty p.m. at the Florence Events Center to gather public input on the City’s use of the Flock Safety automatic license plate reader camera system. City staff will present information on how the system operates, how data is used and protected, and associated costs and policies. Community members will be invited to comment on whether the program should continue, be modified, or discontinued, with speakers limited to three minutes each. No final action will be taken at the special meeting. A regular City Council meeting will follow at approximately six-forty-five p.m.
