Considering move to Oregon Coast. Please help

[noahdib]

Tiff, you mentioned there was no need for hurricane insurance? Forgive my ignorance, but there's no hurricanes that hit the Oregon Coast? Not in anyone's lifetime? What about flooding, tidal waves, tsunami's?

[manzanite]

Originally Posted by noahdib

Tiff, you mentioned there was no need for hurricane insurance? Forgive my ignorance, but there's no hurricanes that hit the Oregon Coast? Not in anyone's lifetime? What about flooding, tidal waves, tsunami's?

Below is a good explanation of the storms that hit the Oregon Coast from the USA Today website. Basically, while we get some really strong winds, the storms don't do anywhere near the damage of a typical hurricane.

Flooding from Coastal rivers can be a problem in low lying areas between the Coast Range and the Ocean, for example in Tillamook. If you aren't in a river's flood plain you are pretty safe though.

Tsunami's (tidal waves) would be covered by flood insurance purchased from the government but if you are in the "inudation zone" you will be required to build to strict codes in order to get this very expensive insurance.

Even if your house escapes the direct effects of the tsunami, it could still be damaged by the same subduction earthquake that caused the tsunami, so earthquake insurance is something else to consider. This is cheaper than flood insurance and can be purchased from most private insurers.

Q: The Oregon Coast often has winds in excess of 100 mph. Why are these storms not reported as hurricanes like those on the east coast?
A: The strong winds that hit the Pacific Coast are from extratropical storms, not hurricanes, which are tropical cyclones. While 100 mph winds are strong for an extratropical storm, a 100 mph hurricane is relatively weak compared with what hurricanes can do. The much greater destruction hurricanes bring led to the establishment of the National Hurricane Center and the other special attention given to these storms. The term "hurricane force winds" causes confusion. While any wind 75 mph or faster is "hurricane force," such winds don't always come from hurricanes. USA TODAY online has a file with more information on eastern Pacific tropical and extratropical storms, including one storm that began life as a tropical storm but was extratropical when it hit Oregon with 100 mph plus winds.

[Alinka]

SunspotsAZ, Tiffany, and Oregonbeachlover: I too crave the coast; so tired of the constant NM heat and sun. I probably have reverse SAD. Would you share what town, area, on the coast where you have settled? "Stone's throw" sounds like heaven to me.
Thanks.

[tiffela74]

wow...well, I think Manzanite got all the infor out! Thanks!
Alinka, I love love love living along the coast! im in Coos Bay, and enjoy it very much. If you do a search on Coos Bay in the Oregon forum, you'll see my posts on my experience, thoughts/opinions/etc. on living here.
Oh, and the house I was living in that was a Stones throw away....Its for sale. w/11acres. (not mine btw...)
Its a different lifestyle here, but for my family and I, we couldnt ask for much more (besides an Applebys and a Bath and Body store...)
Tiff

[Oregonbeachlover]

Alinka, I can only give you my persective, but I LOVE the Oregon coast! I think ANY place on Oregon's coast is heaven! We've been working on our retirement home in Roads End, which is northern Lincoln City. As far as the town, it gets very congested with tourists during the summer and holidays (lots of nightly rentals), so locals just shop during the week. Shopping is not great in Lincoln City, although we have an outlet mall. We have the basics...Rite-Aid, Safeway, Bi-Mart, Walgreens. To get a Walmart or Fred Meyer, you have to drive to Newport (about 25 miles). But, the trade off is that we have a 7 1/2 mile fabulous "walking" beach. There is also a beautiful lake and a couple of rivers. I love walking near the ocean waves and breathing the air and listening to the glorious sound of the waves, so that is my draw here. I know if we get tired of LC after living here, we will move south on the coast. I will never live anywhere but on an Oregon beach. Temps are usually pretty mild all year. We get really hot days only a couple of times a year so there is no need for air conditioning. I have my windows open a lot and just let the ocean breeze drift through the house. The weather can be rainy and gray, but I do not agree with the doomsday people who post, saying it is always like that. It is not! The fun thing is that the weather changes in a heartbeat. We had one of those freak snowstorms this winter (very rare!) and when I woke up there was snow all over everything. In the afternoon, it was bright sun and I threw on a jacket and walked on the beach for 2 hours in complete sun. This winter has been an especially tough one, though, breaking weather records everywhere. I was at the beach during one of the "storms of the century", and the wind was awful. But that is not the norm either. We can have many sunny or partly cloudy days all year long. So, yes, you can have gray days, but it is rarely several days of that in a row...sunbreaks are there too. We do get summer wind here a lot, so you have to know that. People love to fly kites here, and Lincoln City hosts world kite championships here every year. Sept/Oct are beyond words. Just heaven...

[Alinka]

Thank you Tiff and Oregonbeachlover. Your posts and replies have helped me recommit to my dream of getting to that beautiful coast. I have visited three times and each time driven from Portland to the coast and probably south only to the Tilamook area. I have the Northwest Best Places books and find the personal help on this forum wonderful.

Relocation will have to wait almost five years until retirement but it never hurts to have hope and a dream.

Thanks very much!

[LisaLooLoo]

Originally Posted by sassyfur98

Inland wouldn't work. My son hates the snow, and gets mad when he has to wear pants..lol..and he lived in Wisconsin until he was 5.
Oh well, I guess I will begin another search.
Good luck to everyone.

We don't get snow on the western side of the Cascade mountains (Eugene, Cottage Grove, etc.) very often at all. Maybe one or two snowy days a year, and some years none at all. When it does snow around here, the schools shut down and everyone goes crazy playing in it, even if it is only 1 inch!

[linjaynes]

Originally Posted by sassyfur98

Hello everyone,
I am new to all this board stuff, so I apologize in advance for whatever I may do wrong..lol.
My husband and I and our kids are considering moving to Lincoln city. After reading some of the posts on the weather, I am now scared to death.
Is there really long periods of gray and rain? I get so depressed when it is like that. We currently live in southern Alabama, and I love the weather, except when it gets so hot. Mobile was the wettest city in the US last year, but the rain comes down like crazy for a couple hours every day. It isn't days on end of rain. I can handle a lot of rain, as long as it isnt extended periods with nothing but. I do not want lots of rain and gray sky. I do not want terrible constant wind. I do not want construction that ruins the habitat.
I want beautiful nature to surround me. Warm weather, but not hot. I hate the cold as I am from Wisconsin originally. I need the sun to be present for most of the time. I need people to be friendly. I would like a small town, where my boys can ride their bikes around the neighborhood and I dont have to worry about someone stealing them, or them getting blown up by meth labs. We have a white boxer, that goes wherever we go, and if it means we have to end up homeless, well, so be it. (lol)
So, I guess my question is can someone suggest an area that will give us both mountain and ocean views (with reasonable rents..$1,000 or less...preferably in the country) that doesnt rain non stop, that is surrounded by nature, that is a small town, (less than 10,000 people) that isn't so windy all the time, that would have top thyroid doctors within a few hours drive, where the people are nice, and money doesn't rule everyone's world? Is there a place like that along the ORegon Coast? OR even inland? I wouldnt mind living in the mountains if the weather was right! But, I can not have constant rain, cold and gray. That is the most important...the weather. I can not have cold all the time.
Thanks for any and all replies.

[tiffela74]

my oldest and I went for a much needed quiet time walk yesterday after I got off work. We drove about 10min. to one of my fav. places. Now all of these picture were taken yesterday (a partly cloudy day according to weather stations) and between 6.00pm-7.00pm. And not another soul did we see/hear. (well, besides a few furry/feathered friends in the forest, and then the seals/sealions from where they were barking)
These are the paths I get to wander.....and the little beach cover I usually find in solitude. Does it get better than this?????

anyhow, thought Id see if I could make some of ya'll who dont live here, just a little bit more envious. lol


oh, and btw, along the cliffs, thats an easy 100ft up.

[Smiled]

Brookings is probably the sunniest place on the coast. It's the easter lily capitol of the world. I've gone steelhead fishing in January there when the weather was 70 degrees. But: It IS out of the way and small. It MIGHT be a place I'd think about retiring to IF I wasn't much into cultural things (or wanted to spend the time to get them started). Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, CA (across the border 15 miles away) is a major employer. Beyond that, it's mainly forestry and fishing, both of which have taken some big hits in the recent past. And a small stream of California and Oregon retirees.