During an era when tug boats on the Siuslaw River operated at all hours of the night, the bridge tender (Tiny Marsh) would initiate a siren prior to lifting the draw bridge for boats to pass. The night of March 27, 1964 began like any other, but that would soon change. An Alaska earthquake with a 9.2 magnitude set off a series of tidal waves in the direction of the Oregon coast.
It was after 11 p.m. with nearly a full moon in Florence, and most folks in town were asleep. Eleven-year-old Lee Ann Garrett (Begley) was at home with her parents and 3 brothers. They lived on the west side of the bridge (Bay and Kingwood Streets) in the former Ferry Keeper’s two-story house. This was the night she would witness 3 tsunami waves enter the Siuslaw river.
“It made a horrible crashing sound that I will never forget. It was horrifying.” L. Begley
Living in close proximity to the bridge, the siren was a familiar sound for Lee, one she heard nearly every night. But on this night, she wondered why Mr. Marsh didn’t turn the siren off, as he normally would do. She rose out of bed to look out her bedroom window which faced the river, expecting to see a boat approaching the bridge. However, there were no boats in sight. Suddenly she began hearing what sounded like a loud, roaring ocean wave in the distance. She remembers looking down river to see “a large, grey wave crashing onto the marina”, not far from her house. It was later reported in the Eugene Register-Guard the massive wave caused the river to rise 8 feet in 8 seconds. It took out docks, pilings, and boats from their moorings. She remembers the slope of the sand dunes resembled a sheared-off cliff.
Lee saw the first wave “had not gone over the bridge, but slammed into the bridge supports.” In that moment, she feared the bridge would collapse. But it held.
The siren continued to sound. From her window she saw several people on the bridge and could hear them shouting. Cars on the bridge stopped and people were running and yelling but she couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Ron Estep and his family lived in Heceta Beach and heeded warnings to evacuate. They packed a few things and drove up a nearby hill to wait it out. Others who had heard tidal wave warnings in prior years which hadn’t come to fruition, chose to stay in place this time.
16-year-old Rick Schneider lived near the Coast Guard Station and hadn’t given much thought to the tsunami warnings until he began seeing logs and debris. It was then he realized “it was really happening”. He and his father rushed down to the dock where Rick’s 30-foot boat was tied. There were others moving their boats away from the dock, and out into the river. Several boats had become loose from their moorings. He heard police on the bridge who were using a megaphone. When the wave arrived it had washed over the pilings and raised the dock. Rick and his dad were on the dock and held on just as the second wave hit.
THE SECOND WAVE
It was nearly an hour after the first wave when the second wave came. The river rose 10 feet. Water was pushed onto Bay Street and the Bay Bridge Marina, causing power line outages and logs to be lifted onto the street. A few trailers were moved off their foundations. In Lee Ann Garrett’s house, her parents awoke and her mother’s first thought was to evacuate. Her father however, determined it was best to remain in their two-story house. He turned on the radio and listened to advisory warnings being broadcast.
THE THIRD WAVE
Lee continued watching from her bedroom window and saw the third wave. She described the wave as “very odd looking. It had a lot of foam”. Later, newspapers reported the third wave sent more water pouring onto Bay Street and knocked out power lines. At the next high tide the following day, the river rose two feet higher than normal.
Pat Barnes remembers hearing that the waves “came up the river and caused considerable damage to the docks along the waterfront. It came ashore as an extremely high swell and moved upstream. It caused some damage to private docks adjacent to homes.“
12-year-old Jack Feger lived with his family in a house near the boat ramp at First & Harbor Streets. He remembers hearing the siren around midnight that seemed to go on and on. A volunteer fireman knocked on their door to warn them that a “tidal wave” was coming. Jack says he watched the scene unfold from his window, and saw the water had surrounded the house. He saw the water would recede, then surge back again. “The water kept going in and out. Boats had gotten loose from their moorings and things were floating around in the river.” He recalls when the water receded, the docks would be sitting in the mud. And then all at once, the water would rush back in. Many of the boats had bells on their fishing gear and he remembers “when the water lifted the boats up, all the bells started ringing”. At one point, his parents instructed the family to run! They ran up Harbor Street towards Quince, barely staying ahead of the water.
THE AFTERMATH
The following morning (Saturday), a great deal of activity took place along the river by those surveying the area. Lee Ann Garrett remembers waking up to the sound of her dad’s front-loader scrapping the debris and mud off of Bay Street. From her bedroom window, she could see debris all across the water. A Siuslaw News article reported “at one time it looked possible to walk over the river on the trees, logs and boards . . .”. The Coast Guard boat patrolled the river to check the safety of the bridge. Commercial fishermen were out trying to either salvage or determine the extent of damage to their boats. Lee ventured outside and saw logs, boards, pieces of docks and other debris scattered throughout Bay Street. Luckily, the water failed to reach her family’s property. She recalls the sight of the debris overwhelmed her and she wondered: “how would the town and everyone be able to recover from the damage”?
11-year-old Sally Ragan lived on First and Bay Streets. A few hours after the last wave, her mother walked outside and threw a still flopping fish back into the river.
Marian Beatley (Thomas) was 17 years old, and a senior at Florence High School. She and her family lived in town. She remembers watching Johnny Carson on tv when the first two waves hit, and was in bed when the 3rd wave came. The next morning she was surprised at all the damage.
OUT AT SEA
Bev Estep’s Aunt and Uncle George had been on their way back to Florence from Coos Bay in their 32-foot boat when the ocean began getting rough. They hadn’t been aware of the tsunami or ensuing tidal waves that night. Because of the rough water, her uncle “anchored outside the bar to wait until morning before coming into port. Bev says “her aunt and uncle had slept through it”. It was only when they came over the bar on Saturday morning that they saw debris on the shoreline and the damaged docks.
THE DEBRIS
It wasn’t long before the smell from fish that had washed-up, mud, and other debris on the street permeated the area. The City encouraged available contractors to assist with debris removal. Lee Ann’s father used his backhoe and dump truck to help with the cleanup. He and others spent much of that summer and winter working for folks trying to recover or rebuild from the damage they endured. She says in addition to the State, County, and City, the entire community assisted with the cleanup and recovery.
Waves that had continued upriver swept away livestock from dairies and farms. As the days passed and the water receded, livestock carcasses began washing up onto nearby shores. The state issued permits to those willing to help with locating and disposing of the deceased animals. On one of those days, Lee accompanied her father for the beach cleanup. She walked ahead of him to spot the carcasses while he drove his dump truck and pulled a back hoe. She saw carcasses of sea lions, fish, cows, and horses, and recalls the cleanup lasted several weeks as the tide continued to wash carcasses ashore. Unfortunately, she can still remember that smell today.
Congressman Robert Duncan visited Florence to view the devastation. President Lyndon Johnson declared the Oregon coast to be a disaster area thereby allowing for disaster loan relief. In the end, damage to the harbor area property in Florence was estimated to be $50,000.
IMPACT ON THEIR LIVES
Lee Ann Garrett Begley – “in my mind I can still hear the roar of the tsunami. Some people say they don’t make any sound, but believe me, yes, they do.” For some years thereafter, whenever she heard the bridge siren while in bed, she would rise and look out the window. “It’s still fresh in my mind” – referring to the sight & sound of the big first wave slamming into the bridge, and pieces of dock tumbling into the water.
For Jack Feger, he claims that “even 60 year later, my memories are quite vivid”.
In the end, despite the structural damages that occurred, with the help of its community, Florence was able to recover and look back on the 1964 tsunami as a part of its history.
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- Story by Deb Lobey
- oralhistory@spmuseum.org
- Transcript by Suzanne Korosec
Sources
- Summers, Mike and Jane. “Waves that Deserve Respect – Tsunami”. Oregon Coast, Magazine. August/September 1985. Pgs. 32-34.
- The Eugene Register-Guard
“Florence Property Damage $50,000”. March 29, 1964. Pg 1.
Hartman, Barrie. “It Was Just One Big Wall of Water”. March 30, 1964. Section B.
Mitchell, Matt. Mitchell. ‘Tidal Waves Maul Oregon Coast”. March 28, 1964. Pg 1. - The Siuslaw News. “1-2-3 Punch Hits Florence”. April 2, 1964. Vol. 4, No. 14. Pgs 1-2.