TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Krishna Namburi, City Manager
FROM: Brian D. Martin, PE, Public Works Director
SUBJECT:
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Initial damage assessment of City of Salem infrastructure and costs incurred from the December 2025 Storm Event.
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
Result Area(s): Safe, Reliable and Efficient Infrastructure.
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SUMMARY:
summary
The Mid-Willamette Valley suffered a damaging wind and heavy rainstorm event that began on December 16, 2025, and lasted through December 20, 2025. The City of Salem experienced downed trees, power lines, and widespread power outages from the wind, and minor to moderate flooding along major creeks from the nearly five inches of rain received. Since the storm, staff have identified over $2.4 million in damage to public infrastructure and costs incurred responding to the storm. These costs have been reported to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through Marion and Polk Counties, as well as the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, to seek a Presidential Disaster Declaration and receive federal financial assistance.
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ISSUE:
Information Only.
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Information Only.
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FACTS AND FINDINGS:
Windstorm Damage and Response
Wind gusts exceeding 45 mph occurred in Salem during the overnight hours beginning December 16, 2025, and lasting into the early morning of December 17, 2025. High winds brought down trees, tree limbs, and power lines, causing widespread power outages. Over two dozen traffic signals lost power during the windstorm. City Parks Operations - Urban Forestry crews responded to 210 individual service requests through Public Works Dispatch. Parks Operations augmented its staffing with crews from two local tree service contractors: Mountain View Tree Service and R & R Tree Service, Inc. Public Works crews provided road and lane closure traffic control and maintained out-of-service signalized intersections with either generators or temporary stop signs. Utility staff shuttled temporary generators to several sewer pump stations that lost power and weren’t equipped with back-up generators. Six flow sensors at the North River Road Wet Weather Wastewater Treatment Facility burned out from power spikes/surges that occurred as part of the windstorm, at a cost of $9,500 to replace.
Flood Event and Response
Following the windstorm, heavy rains impacted the Mid-Willamette Valley from December 17, 2025, through December 19, 2025. Rain gauges in the Salem-Keizer metropolitan area recorded between four and five inches of precipitation during the 72-hour period. High levels of runoff caused flows in Salem’s major creeks to exceed action stage and achieve minor flood stage, especially along the lower reaches of Mill Creek, Shelton Ditch, and Pringle Creek. City crews opened and stocked four self-service sandbag locations throughout Salem. In addition, stormwater crews removed trapped debris from under and around the 21st, 23rd, and 25th Street SE bridges over Mill Creek, and at Weir Dam where Mill Creek and Shelton Ditch diverge. The Willamette River rose to 22 feet in depth which is considered minor flood stage; however, there was no reported flooding in the developed areas of Wallace Marine Park and only minor flooding in Minto-Brown Island Park.
Post-flood inspections discovered scour damage to 13 bridges across creeks in the form of minor to moderate scour around the base of bridge abutments, piers, and nearby creek banks. Ten bridges are in public street rights-of-ways, one is a bridge over Mill Creek that is part of the internal roadway within Cascades Gateway Park, one is a City-owned bridge to Geren Island Water Treatment Facility, and one is a triple culvert crossing of Glen Creek along an access road that the City uses to access the West Salem Sewer Pump Station. The estimated costs to repair the scour damage is $2,269,000 as listed in Attachment 1, Tables 1,3, and 4.
Sanitary Sewer Overflows
Heavy rainfall caused high levels of groundwater and runoff to enter the wastewater collection system during the storm event. Despite running the Willow Lake and North River Road Wastewater Treatment Facilities at full capacity, the high levels of inflow and infiltration caused an overflow of heavily diluted, untreated wastewater to spill into the Willamette River. During a 14-hour period beginning at 6:30 p.m. on December 18, 2025, a total of 2.84 million gallons of wastewater spilled into the river from the Union Street NE Permitted Discharge Point. Five other Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) were reported during the storm event:
• 4700 block of Glendale Avenue NE:
o 99,300 gallons into East Fork Little Pudding River
• 1400 block of Greenwood Drive NE:
o an unknown volume into Claggett Creek
• 500 block of Idylwood Drive SE:
o an unknown volume into West Fork Pringle Creek
• 2000 block of Village Center Drive SE:
o an unknown volume into West Middle Fork Pringle Creek
• 4300 block of Nalani Court SE:
o an unknown volume into West Fork Pringle Creek
Turbidity Event in North Santiam River - Salem’s Drinking Water
The December storm event impacted the North Santiam River watershed which resulted in high levels of turbidity (suspended sediments) in the water flowing from Detroit Reservoir and Big Cliff pool. The high turbidity levels forced staff to close the intakes to the Geren Island Water Treatment Facility on the North Santiam River from December 18, 2025, through December 30, 2025, to preserve the functionality of the slow sand filters. During those 13 days, water operators used alternative water sources, including existing groundwater wells on Geren Island, Aquifer Storage Recovery (ASR) storage, the Cherry Avenue NE intertie with the City of Keizer, and storage from Franzen Reservoir to supply the community with safe, potable drinking water. Salem purchased approximately 25.3 million gallons of water from the City of Keizer at a cost of $57,738. High river flows in the North Channel at Geren Island caused approximately $40,000 worth of scour and erosion damage to the bridge that connects Geren Island to the mainland. (See Attachment 1, Table 3)
Flows have decreased on the North Santiam River enough to observe that significant amounts of gravel, sediments and debris were moved downstream during the storm event. Staff have observed a shift in river flow rates away from the North Channel, where the Geren Island Intake draws water from, to the South Channel. West Consultants have been engaged to perform a survey of the river bottom and to identify any gravel deposits that would cause that shift in flow rate. Once completed, staff will use the survey information to evaluate different possible dredging and mitigation measures to ensure sufficient flow is allowed to enter the North Channel at Geren Island during periods of high demand. In the meantime, more than sufficient flow is entering the North Channel for the City to meet community drinking water demand.
Emergency Coordination & Public Information
The Public Works Department, with participation from the City’s Emergency Manager, activated its Departmental Operating Center and a Joint Information Center at 9:30 a.m. on December 19, 2025. The centers were deactivated at 10:30 a.m. on December 20, 2025. Public Information Officers issued community alerts and press releases during the storm event, including a community-wide Flood Alert at 9:38 a.m. on December 19, 2025, and a Level 1 “Prepare to Evacuate” alert on December 19, 2026, at 11:13 a.m.to specific neighborhoods along the lower reaches of Mill Creek, Shelton Ditch, and Pringle Creek. The alert was rescinded on December 19 at 8:25 p.m. when creek levels had reached their maximum levels and began to recede.
Initial Damage Assessment and FEMA Process
Immediately after the storm event ended on December 20, 2025, Public Works staff began inspecting infrastructure for damage and tallying the cost of responding to the storm event. Initial inspections uncovered scour damage to 13 bridges and culverts across creeks. Creek flows were still too high to definitively inspect for all possible scour damage. Additional inspections will be required later this spring, when flows decrease.
The first initial damage assessment was due to Marion and Polk Counties by January 6, 2026. Interviews with representatives from the Oregon Office of Emergency Management and FEMA followed on the week of January 26, 2026. A final version of the Initial Damage Assessment was successfully conveyed to FEMA by the February 2, 2026, deadline. The total amount of damage and costs incurred for the December Storm Event is initially estimated at $2,412,350. (Attachment 1)
BACKGROUND:
The FEMA Public Assistance process requires that initial damage estimates need to be generated locally and reported through the counties immediately after a major storm or disaster event and then compiled at the State level before being transmitted to FEMA. Once initial damage assessments are received, FEMA will review them and begin the verification process through supporting documentation. If the county’s initial damage assessment exceeds the specific minimum dollar-amount threshold, FEMA will recommend that a Presidential Disaster Declaration be made in Washington D.C. Attachment 1, Table 2, shows that both Marion and Polk Counties have exceeded their initial damage assessment thresholds for the December storm event with just the City of Salem’s contribution. However, FEMA representatives have made it clear that exceeding the county thresholds is not the only factor that is considered for a Presidential Disaster Declaration and that FEMA reimbursement assistance is not guaranteed. The State of Oregon should know if it will receive a Presidential Disaster Declaration within the next 60 to 90 days. If issued, approved damages can be reimbursed at 75 percent federal funding, with a 25 percent local match requirement.
Mark Becktel, AICP
Assistant Public Works Director - Operations
Attachments:
1. City of Salem December 2025 Storm Event Damage Summary
2. Map of December 2025 Storm Event Damage Locations