Major Floods and Columbus Day Storm

Pictures from 1958 will be added. In the meantime, below is a bit of history on the floods, pictures from 1964 plus video from 1948 and 1996 floods.

The Oaks was built on the banks of the Willamette (will-am-ett) River in 1905. Since that time, there have been 3 major floods. At 21.22 feet, the river is considered at flood stage.

During the May 30, 1948 Vanport Flood (first major flood in Oaks history) the river crested at 33.47 feet.

October 12, 1962, the Columbus Day Storm hit the park. The tree loss was devasting; however, the Dance Pavilion escaped with minor damage. (Pictures will be posted).

December of 1964 was the next major flood with the river cresting at 30.50 feet.

Over the next 32 years, several dams were built to manage the water flow of the river yet in 1996 the river flooded again cresting at 31.80 feet.

Of these, the worse damage was sustained during the Vanport Flood as the waters stayed in the park over 30 days. During the month the water was in the skating rink, the floor was lost despite attempts to preserve it.

Robert and his employees brainstormed on how to prevent the degree of loss in the future. They came up with attaching about 200 sealed, empty 55-gallon drums under the floor. The idea was to enable the floor to float with the aid of the drums.

The below 1948 video made with movie footage and still photos taken during that flood. Note sandbags were placed on the skating floor in an unsuccessful attempt to preserve it.

Flood waters entered the park in 1958; however, they were not enough to close the rink to club skaters.

In 1964, the 1948 idea was put to the test. When notification came the waters were rising, the skating surface was cut loose. The floor floated. During the times the floor is floating, it must be manned to keep it level. Large barrels of rental skates were used as counter-weights.