A lot of other people died from that same storm here in the Northwest
But they just did not get the same amount of publicity that these climbers did. A common thread, though, is that all of these people made very bad decisions.
A lot of pepole lost power from that storm, and there were a couple of cases of people being dumb enough to operate gas powered generators inside their homes to provide heat and light. Needless to say, they died overnight of carbon monoxide poisoning. A total of 12 people lost their lives this way, and hundreds more suffered from less than lethal amounts of poisoning. Here is a news story about this:
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/12/19/c3.cr.wastorm.1219.p1.php
Then there were 3 men who went out crabbing, and they stayed out too long, despite the fact that they knew a big storm was coming. As they came into the entrance of the mouth of the Rogue River at Port Orford, huge waves capsized and sank their 43 foot boat. No bodies have been recovered yet.
Here is a link to a new story about this:
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/12/20/d2.cr.boatsinks.1220.p1.php
And another three men were trying to sail a big catamarran from Africa to the boat's new owner in Seattle. They unfortunately were off the coast of Oregon when the storm hit. The capsized boat was found beached near Lincoln City, and there is no sign of any survivors. Here is a news story:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/16262113.htm
So you see, all of these other people all died from the same winter storm, but never got the same amount of national attention.
People just don't respect nature enough, or don't deal with it properly.
Lance in Oregon
, but his last day was a good day spent with friends and family......I can think of many worse ways to go......
