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July 2008
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I’m going to tell you about my little slice of the Wind Storm Pie. You know, you could toss a dart just about anywhere in Western Washington and find somebody, anybody, who suffered through this latest smack upside the head from Mother Nature. Usually, it’s something of a challenge to piece together all the elements for a 90-second long story. This time…take your pick. As the assignments were tossed out to KING 5 crews in the wee hours (just after midnight Friday morning), the trajectory of our assignment landed us at the Meadow View Apartments, in Renton. And that’s where the Angry Weather Gods landed another bull’s eye – three times... First, it was a towering, dead, white-barked tree versus a little white pickup truck. Smashed. Crunched. Destroyed. Somebody’s good looking white pickup truck, with a nice, matching white canopy-cab on the back, ended up as a twisted, slumping heap of junk. A huge, long tree – which at one time stood probably 75 feet from where the truck was parked – that huge tree was blown over by that nasty wind. The tree smashed through a five-foot-high wooden fence…and then timmmmmmmbered itself down, down, down until the top of it crashed into the truck. A direct hit. If someone had been inside, it would have been awful. Second, a gigantic cedar versus a new Jeep…a red compact car…and three apartment units in Building “G.” In this case, it was more like a mountain of tree than anything else, because this thing snapped off about 1/3 of the way up and fell onto a road within the apartment complex. It blocked the entire road…crunched the cars…and slapped the side of the building. The Jeep got the worst of it: the main body of the tree – the trunk, I guess – landed right on the vehicle. (Another neighbor told us later that, yes, it was a brand new Jeep. The guy had just bought it last week.) A couple of cars parked next to the Jeep got covered in branches and cedar boughs, but those cars were okay. As for the building – the apartment units – that’s where things got lucky. Basically, as the tree fell…heading directly for the building…it ended up being juuuuuust not long enough to hit the building. Instead, as it fell, the very top of the tree juuuuust brushed the side of the building. “Brushed” is a relative term to describe force in this case…when you’re talking about a tree. Because when it “brushed” past a second story balcony, it bent the railing and a drainage downspout. Continuing down, the tree landed with its very tippy-top right on the back patios of two apartments. I spoke to one of the residents – a very sweet woman who patiently told me what happened – and she said that, yes, she felt very lucky that it wasn’t worse. Lastly, another big tree – this time I think it was a Douglas Fir – versus another side of another part of the apartment complex. This was Building “H.” In this case, it was another lucky circumstance. It could have been the worst of all, because the tree fell right onto the apartment building. Fortunately, the tree stood (formerly) quite close to the building, so it didn’t have very much falling-energy to pack much of a wallop. It did do damage to the building as it fell…and as it fell, pieces of the tree snapped off. One of those pieces hurtled into the sliding glass window of one of the second floor units and smashed the glass into little pieces before the “log” came to a rest inside somebody’s front living room, right next to their Christmas tree. Again, nobody hurt…but some significant damage and quite a big scare. So that’s the Storm Damage Tally Sheet. 3-0, Wind. But of course, there’s a lot more to this story. Because the entire time we’re out there…documenting this damage, doing live shots and showing viewers another example of what the wind did...there are many people coming up to us. To ask us how bad things are. To tell us what happened to them. To tell us how scared they were. Like usually happens during these big stories…these people were optimistic. They were helping each other out. They were trying to make the best of what was a very rough situation. Again. 11 Comments |
What we saw last night up to now is a prelude to what will happen should the expected big quake hit Washington, this state is totally unprepaired due to its evironmental retardation. No wonder a million people lost power, when you allow power lines to snake through thick tree growth! Go figure you idiots! People would not lose power and people would not be killed by falling trees if we removed the trees from power lines and distance them from dense urban popullations. You asked for it Washington state and damn did you get it! Well done!
its another reminder that we are not in charge of the weather. we tend to build cut back trees build in places that the weather can cause damage of complete loss.. we do tend to forget the storms and whatpower they can pack.. this storm was not as bad as the 79 storm loss of the hood canal bridge huge tree blow downs i think we need to think about where we build and check the weather history the 25 50 100 500 year histories never take the weather for granted we are not in control but we can control where we build and live
Seattle wasn't the only area to get knocked on its butt over this particularly wild storm. As it moved inland, Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho got hit amidships with winds that hit a published high of 70 mph. I have a digital picture I've been sending around. It consists of a green house broken up and scattered by the winds, and part of the green house, a connection bar, shoved into the tree branches by the wind, in the back yard of my home in Dalton Gardens, Idaho. Think I need to e-mail you guys this photo and show you that this was not a "straight" wind, as evidenced by a snowman windsock trying to catch incoming and outgoing winds that would sometimes rattle gusts down the chimney and at the windows. Incoming winds producing some of the gusts, outgoing winds that would cause the windsock to change direction but would not produce window rattling gusts. Then, outgoing winds would produce chimney and window rattling gusts and incoming winds would not. The next day, 15 December 2006. Before I am going to go to work, I set up my knocked down Yule decorations, I find a few scattered pieces of my green house, I see a rod jutting out of the tree where it had been lodged by the wind in the branches. I take care of my dogs, find a branch from a dead tree broken on the ground and my dogs tangled up chain to chain, spooked, I shouldn't doubt, but unharmed. I pull the dead branch away, untangle my dogs and get them food and water. Before I go to work, I take my two digital photos of what looked like "twister" damange sitting around the back yard plum tree and the rod jutting out of its branches. Figure that King 5 could look at this one too. We had as much tree damage here in the Inland Northwest as did any of you guys in Western Washington. As many homes damaged and schools canceled just because of these very powerful and very strange winds. "Tornado" winds are what I call them, whether they produce actual funnels or not. They do have much the same effect as twisters do elsewhere.
Darwin award for stupidity: The people of Washington state.
Your gas stations have no means of operation during a major natural disaster.
If you've ever seen what a major earthquake can do to trees, look at the big alaska quake of 1965. And you people think this storm was bad?
If you think "saving the trees" is a good idea? You should be forced to live in the woods with no electricity you stupid hippy jackass.
This is what happens when your state is run by whacked out, Earth kissing, environazi liberal thugs. You loose your power, you home floats away, your house gets cut in half by an evergreen and all you get from Gregware is a big set of flapping fish lips.
Washington state is totally not ready for a major catastrophic natural disaster and it's time you saps wake the heck up and take on the liberal nazi environmental freeto chewing freaks and their queen of ignorance, Chrissy Gregware.
We are bowed but not broken. This was the real wake up call for checking our survival skills, earthquake kits and readiness for possible terrorist attacks. We failed this time but can learn.
Below is an email I sent to T-Man on KUBE radio station this morning. I don't listen to his show, it was left on the station because my daughter was listening to it last night. He and his callers were critising PSE crews for doing their jobs, and repeatedly calling the PSE outage number and tieing up the phone line so others couldn't call in if they needed to.
T-Man;
I listened to your show for the first time in a long time this morning. No offense, but your show is a little to much for me early in the morning.
My email pertains to your comments this morning about the crews working to get the power back on, their disregard for lives and safety of the people with power outages, PSE not responding and choosing not to get power going, etc.
I have many clients (I am a tax preparer)working at PSE and the contractors who install and maintain PSE gas and power utility systems.
I am married to a base commander of one of these contractors. He has been at work since Wednesday, he sleeps in his truck in the parking lot for about 2 hours out of every 24. We also didn't have power at home for 3 days.
All crews are working at all of the contractors as well as the PSE company crews, to get the power back on for everyone.
Large gathering places and hospitals are the first priority, because many people can benefit from the larger shelter area while the power is being worked on for residential customers.
They are not just choosing to not get the power back on. These crews, and the people in charge of them, are working 18 to 20 hours shifts, and, because of "Act of God" freak weather, their own families don't have power and they can't get their own power back on either, or go home between shifts to help their families.
PSE is a utility, they can only make improvements to the power system as funds allow. If they put in for a rate increase for system improvements (move power lines from above ground to buried lines) so wind storms don't effect power supply, then everyone complains. If the wind knocks power out - then everyone complains.
Utilities do not have huge profits. How many utilities have been in the news for going under in the past 5 years? Lots.
Improvements to power systems are being continually worked on by contractors all year long. Updates take a lot of money, which customers don't want to pay for via rate increases.
Just like military personnel in the war, utility crews are doing their jobs as best they can - and none of them like, nor do they choose when and where they work. The comment that they do is idiotic.
To sum it up - unless someone else can come up with a better plan than doing everything they already are, with the resources they have available - people need to quit complaining about it.
It's like Louisiana - hind sight is a wonderful thing. In the event of freak weather, which cannot be predicted, every body second guesses, points fingers, blames and judges without the knowledge to know what they are talking about. The only thing the people complaining don't do is help.
People just need to shut up or do something productive. Pointing fingers in times of emergency does absolutely no good for anyone.
Final comment - Everyone quit complaining and do something to help. Making absurd comments about something you know nothing about makes you look like a stupid whiner!
After listening to the rashion of trash the Governor proposes spending the state surplus on, it reminds me of another Democrat idiot some 25 years ago named Dixy Lee Ray who made the same comments while overlooking the impending disaster of Mount Saint Hellens. Insted of jaunting around Asia looking for good China or continuing the over-payment of spoiled unionized teachers Captain Fishlips, why don't you look after the welfare of your state? You're leadership is pathetic, your state isn't ready for a major disaster and the people are getting sick of incompetance.
Dan,
What's your point? Is the Governor responsible for the weather or volcanic eruptions? Are you saying education is a bad thing? Or is this just another irrelevant pointless dig at all things Democrat?
If you want the state to be prepared for any and all disasters then vote for the taxes to pay for it? That's an expensive proposition, how much are you willing to contribute?
No politician, Republican or Democrat, can work that kind of magic. What do you really expect?
Maybe, instead of sitting around whining and calling people names, you might volunteer at your local school and get to know some of those over-paid spoiled teachers. Who knows, you might actually learn something in the process.
I could not find a place to give the weather people my choice of a name for the storm so I put it here to see if it can be submitted (BLOWOUT 06)I hope you can get it to the correct place !! thanks!!!!
The weather whiners,
As a lifelong Florida resident soon to be moving to your state, I notice the parallels between your recent storms and our little events called hurricanes. Much of it comes down to personal preparation. Trim trees away from the home that may likely come down. Think ahead..."If I loose power today for 2 days, how will my family keep warm and cook? Is my insurance policy up-to-date, covering wind damage to vehicle and home, if I suffer a loss? If I am forced out of my home, where can I go? Do I have special needs that I KNOW I'll need outside help with?" These are all questions that must be addressed on a personal level, as government will have its hands full. Power crews bust their butts, no matter what the emergency. Have a plan! Wind, rain, earthquakes, tsunamis...these are all part of the world we live in, no matter where we live!
Good site! I'll stay reading! Keep improving!