This article explores how a powerful windstorm in the McKenzie River corridor exposed the vulnerability of rural internet infrastructure. It also describes how a rapid, science-informed response restored connectivity within days.
Drawing on three decades of experience in communications systems and disaster recovery, I’ll walk through what happened on Castle Rock Mountain. I will explain why the failure occurred and what this event teaches us about building more resilient networks in an era of extreme weather.
When Extreme Weather Meets Critical Connectivity
In early winter, a powerful windstorm swept through the McKenzie Bridge area of Oregon, toppling trees and battering ridgelines. The storm ultimately knocked out a key internet tower atop Castle Rock Mountain.
This tower was not just another piece of hardware—it was a critical communications link for residents and businesses in a region already shaped by prior disaster. The site had been installed by Elevate Technology Group in the wake of the 2020 Holiday Farm fires.
This was part of a broader effort to restore and modernize communications in a community marked by wildfire destruction. The new storm, however, put that infrastructure to a severe test.
The Tower Failure on Castle Rock Mountain
The windstorm generated forces strong enough to rip bolts directly out of the ground. This demonstrated both the intensity of the event and the challenges of securing structures on exposed mountain terrain.
The tower’s hardware did not simply tilt or partially fail; it was effectively destroyed. Critical components, including solar panels and backhaul equipment, were torn from their mounts and scattered.
Much of the damaged equipment was later found pushed far down the mountain slope, carried by wind and debris. Once the backhaul link and power system were lost, the site was rendered completely inoperable, cutting off internet service to the surrounding area.
The Human Effort Behind Rapid Restoration
Despite high winds, cold temperatures, and driving rain, Elevate Technology Group deployed a field crew to the remote site. Getting there was not a simple service call—it required a strenuous, nearly hour-long hike up a mountain in winter conditions, carrying tools and diagnostic equipment.
Upon arrival, the team confirmed what CEO Geoff Turner later described: the site was “almost completely destroyed”. Although smaller and less complex than some of their larger installations, this particular tower played an outsized role in local connectivity.
Working in Freezing, Wet Conditions
With the full scope of the damage clear, the team faced two simultaneous tasks: immediate restoration of service and long-term strengthening of the site. The crew worked late into the evening in freezing rain and cold wind, prioritizing the fastest path to getting customers back online while also improving the site’s structural resilience.
Turner emphasized that their decisions were guided by a simple, urgent objective: restore service as quickly as safely possible. In practical terms, that meant improvising within a hostile environment, aligning engineering best practices with real-world constraints on the mountain.
Engineering a More Resilient Foundation
One of the most important steps the crew took was to begin drilling a new, more secure foundation directly into the mountain. This is a textbook example of learning from failure and upgrading infrastructure in response to observed weaknesses.
Mountain-top wireless sites face a unique combination of stressors:
By anchoring the structure deeper into bedrock and improving the structural ties between the tower, foundation, and terrain, engineers can significantly increase resistance to uplift forces and lateral loads during extreme weather events.
Why Backhaul and Power Matter Most
The storm did not just destroy visible tower hardware; it targeted the two most critical lifelines of any remote site: power and backhaul. The loss of solar panels meant the site had no local energy source, while the destroyed backhaul components severed the link to the broader network.
In disaster-prone regions, robust design often includes:
Service Restored—and Lessons for the Future
Despite the scope of the damage and the punishing conditions, Elevate Technology Group confirmed that full internet service was restored by Thursday evening.
For customers, this meant a relatively short period of isolation during what could have been a prolonged outage, especially given the remote location and difficulty of access.
This incident underscores several key lessons for communities and providers alike:
Here is the source article for this story: Tech crew conquers extreme weather to restore internet atop Castle Rock Mountain