There were some quite rational people who openly wondered why Vernonia wouldn’t call it quits and just leave the sodden place in ruin. It had happened before, in 1996, but never this badly, in 2007: The Nehalem River, pushed by torrential rains 14 vertical feet above its banks, ate the tiny timber town by inundating homes, floating cars like rubber ducks and leaving five feet of sewage-sullied water in school buildings. Fixing everything for the roughly 2,400 residents would cost more than $100 million — hard to come by and likely futile anyway…
