Blown Away
Published 11:35 am Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Dennis Box
The Courier-Herald
It was a storm to remember.
A swirl of arctic air blew through the Plateau early Friday morning riding 60 mph gusts of wind, knocking down trees, cutting power across the region and sending temperature plunging below 15 degrees.
Bonney Lake was one of the hardest hit areas with major roads blocked by downed trees, numerous homes hit by fallen timber, and most of the area was without power for 16 to 36 hours.
East Pierce Fire and Rescue officials reported no deaths from the storm, but there were a number of injuries and calls increased by tenfold over the daily volume.
Assistant Fire Chief Russ McCallion said the department issued a general alarm calling all available career and volunteer firefighters on duty.
McCallion said the department responded to more than two dozen calls regarding trees fallen on houses. The hardest hit area was the west side of Lake Tapps.
An evergreen fell onto Jason Ford's home at the corner of Locust Avenue East and 82nd Street East Friday morning. The tree crashed through the roof and crushed his bedroom area.
Firefighters were searching the home for survivors, but were informed by a neighbor Ford and his sister were not home.
Ford arrived home after working a night shift.
“I don't care about my house,” Ford told firefighters. “I care about my dog.”
The dog had run to a neighbor's house and stayed until Ford returned.
Friday morning Shawn Ryder, a Pierce County road operations employee, was struck by a falling tree causing multiple leg fractures. Rydberg and co-worker Randy Fisher were clearing a tree from the road near the intersection of Jenks Point and West Tapps Highway when a tree snapped hitting Rydberg.
Also Friday morning traffic signals in Bonney Lake on state Route 410 East went dark. Along SR 410, east of Albertsons and across from the Washington State University Demonstration Forest, four trees fell into the power lines and the westbound lanes.
On Sumner-Buckley Highway at about 11 a.m. three trees fell across the road west of 195th Avenue East.
Other roads hit were Angeline, 182 Avenue East and 112th Avenue East.
Bonney Lake Public Works employees worked around the clock Friday and Saturday clearing trees and debris from the city streets. City workers also had to manage 120 grinder pumps that lift sewage to gravity lines through the city. City electrician Bill Strand said, “the city's prepared with the backup power system that's in place.”
Mayor Neil Johnson said the city staff responded well to the storm.
“They worked nonstop Friday and Saturday,” Johnson said. “Sunday they started cleaning up the debris.”
Johnson said the American Red Cross set up a shelter for people at the Church of the Nazarene in Puyallup. The mayor was not able to get a count of the number of people who relocated to the shelter.
The city set up a plan to assist people in the clean up of debris. Public Works Director Dan Grigsby said residents can place limbs no larger than 6-feet long and 10-inches in diameter in front of their property, but clear of garbage and recycling containers. The clean up started Tuesday in the north end of the city.
The city has also opened a collection site on the Moriarty property next to Allan Yorke Park and Cedarview Park.
Clean up is expected to last all week.
Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.
