Wind Wallops Walla Walla
WALLA WALLA — Trees crashed onto cars and houses, knocked down power lines and blocked roads and the sky was turned brown with churned-up dust as fierce winds hitting almost 80 mph pounded Walla Walla on Friday.
Damage from Mother Nature’s fury was visible on nearly every street. Branches were snapped off trees that didn’t topple. Garbage cans blew all over, creating obstacle courses for drivers and scattering trash in yards. Shingles torn off roofs littered streets.
Scott Reser, 37, stood outside looking at a tree that fell on a neighbor’s house across the street. "It’s been blowing pretty bad," he said. "It feels like a hurricane hit the mainland."
After trees crashed onto homes and across streets, neighbors living around Pearson and Madison streets gathered to check on how everyone was doing. One talked about how "Walla Walla is going to look different when the wind’s done blowing."
Just a few minutes earlier, a large conifer tree that had been standing in Elaine Hinshaw’s yard crashed across the street onto the edge of Peggy Hansen’s yard.
"This is a mess," Hinshaw said as she worked her way around the tree. "It’s just incredible. We just have to count our blessings no one was hurt."
Hansen said she was inside her house doing a puzzle in the light shining through the window when the tree fell.
"It was the weirdest sound. It just went ‘creeek, creeek,’ and then crashed," she said.
At the height of the storm mid-morning, the Walla Walla Regional Airport recorded sustained winds of 55 mph with 78 mph gusts, according to the National Weather Service.
About 19,000 Pacific Power customers lost power, according to The Associated Press. By late Friday, about 8,000 customers still were without power throughout Walla Walla County, according to Don Marlatt, the county’s emergency management director.
Columbia Rural Electric Association had about 1,200 customers who were out of service, with the first homes going dark around 9:15 a.m., said CEO Les Teel. The hardest hit were south of Walla Walla, around College Place and into Oregon, he said.
Power was expected to be restored to most customers by midnight Friday. About 300 customers along the state line would likely stay in the dark through this evening, Teel said.
Flights were canceled at the airport, and two parks were closed as a safety precaution, the AP reported. Emergency crews were dispatched around town to remove downed power lines, close streets and check houses that had been hit by trees.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
The county’s emergency operations center opened at 10 a.m., and the county commissioners declared a state of emergency. The Red Cross opened a shelter around 5 p.m. at Blue Mountain Community Church.
Officials asked people to stay home and out of danger’s way, but many residents ventured out to take pictures of the damage.
"It’s foolish," said Ramona Kemph, the emergency operation center’s assistant public information officer. "There have been cars with people in them hit by power lines and trees continue to fall. Winds have subsided for the moment … but it’s still dangerous and people should still stay home."
Emergency officials also stressed the importance of preventing carbon monoxide poisoning by not using gas grills or heaters inside homes for heating or cooking.
A high wind warning was in effect until 10 p.m. as the jet stream passed over the region. Winds calmed down by late afternoon — sustained winds of 24 mph with gusts at 39 mph were recorded — but started picking up again early in the evening.
By comparison, wind speeds were clocked at 22 mph with gusts at 35 mph at the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco around 2 p.m.
Walla Walla is expected to see winds around 18 mph with gusts near 30 mph today.
In Oregon, high winds closed Highway 11 between Pendleton and Milton-Freewater for several hours because of low visibility, dust and debris, the Oregon Department of Transportation reported.
Interstate 84 also was shut down in both directions for about seven hours because of dust, snow and numerous crashes in Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Baker counties. Several semi-trucks were blown over in the storm and some Oregon State Police patrol cars were damaged by flying rocks.
In Walla Walla, high winds caused a tree to fall onto three buildings and crush a vehicle on the east side of the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center.
The buildings were evacuated and an emergency operations center was established, said Jake Shaw, a medical center spokesman. No one was injured, but all clinics were shut down and appointments were canceled for the day.
The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin newspaper at First Avenue and Poplar Street had to have its Friday edition printed by the East Oregonian in Pendleton after it lost power early in the morning.
But the Zip Zone gas station at Ninth Avenue and Alder Street somehow managed to keep its power on throughout the day. A steady stream of cars and customers flowed into the station throughout the day, and at 2 p.m. 17 cars were lined up on the street waiting to get to the pumps.
Manager Larry Hedges said they were almost out of regular unleaded gas and expected to run out of fuel around 5 p.m.
"We’re the only station in town with power and working pumps," he said, noting the lights flickered about four times, then stayed on.
"I almost wish it would have stayed off. It’s a madhouse here."
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