By Heather Hintze

Near FLORENCE, Ore. -- A rock slide closed a portion of North Fork Siuslaw Road Thursday morning off highway 126 between Florence and Mapleton.

Workmen say the wet weather over the past few weeks has completely saturated the soil.

That factor, combined with a storm Wednesday night created prime conditions for a 150-year-old spruce tree to topple over and block the road.

Crews say removing it was no easy task. Once the tree was cleared, crews had to remove all the debris from the side of the road and haul the dirt and branches away in a dump truck or throw it into the ditch.

The spruce also took down powerlines in the fall. Residents went without electricity for hours while workers restored the lines.