Dean and Karen Moreland’s wedding was scheduled for 7 p.m. in a Vancouver church.

This is how he remembers the Friday evening: “That was a horrible night!”

That same night, Steve Shirey pulled his face out of the mud and opened his eyes. The high school football player was left wondering why — in just a few seconds — the world had gone away.

“I couldn’t hear anything, I couldn’t see anything,” recalled Shirey. “I thought I’d gone blind or had a neck injury.”

Shirey wasn’t hurt, and the Morelands’ relationship was strong. But their lives had just crossed paths with the Columbus Day Storm.

Fifty years ago, the most powerful Pacific Northwest weather event in modern history raked stretches of California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.