Storm packs a punch, knocks out power, downs countless trees

A severe storm shook Ritzville Sunday evening and left a pile of destruction behind it. The storm hit the Ritzville area around 8 p.m. on Sept. 15 and brought sustained wind gusts of an estimated 60 miles per hour, which brought down trees and knocked out power throughout the city.

The National Weather Service issued a severe weather warning before the storm rolled through the area, and the warning advised residents of potential high winds, lightning strikes and quarter size hail expected to fall in the eastern part of the county.

The storm hit Ritzville with a vengeance, giving almost no indication of the proximity of the storm, and brought with it a wall of dust and silt. Residents rushed to secure windows and doors to prevent dust, which drastically reduced visibility.

Though residents anticipated a thunderstorm, the aftermath of destruction throughout the city was unexpected.

Immediately, dispatch received reports of downed trees and power lines in various areas of the city.

As the dust cleared, city and county crews began canvassing the area, while the fire department and law enforcement officers responded to calls.

Residences throughout the city lost large limbs or trees during the extreme wind, and the debris littered city streets, with portions of Adams and Washington Streets having to be closed for downed trees and power lines. An estimated 12 power lines were reported down or broken in the city.

The most visible and extreme damage could be found in the Ritzville City Park, where multiple trees toppled and limbs fell, crushing playground equipment. The barbecue area and gazebo received minimal damage despite limbs on the roof and protruding into the structures.

Ritzville Public Works Director Larry Swift estimates that seven trees fell in the park alone. Another collapsed at the demolition site of the old high school.

In the aftermath of the storm, crews worked to clear debris as quickly as possible. In the city park, volunteers joined city crews to help cut and clear the extensive amount of limbs and trees lying in the park. With the addition of a large crew of volunteers and equipment, the park was cleared of major wreckage by Tuesday morning.

The Ritzville Municipal Golf Course lost multiple trees at various points along the course, with limbs lying across many of the fairways. Swift said as many as six trees toppled in the course, including one that snapped off along Bauman Road.

The Life Care Center of Ritzville had a tree fall onto the roof of the building, causing damage but without injuring residents. There were no reports of injuries after Sunday’s storm.

School administrators responded to the Ritzville schools on Sunday evening when the alarms were tripped by extensive dust in the buildings. Superintendent Rob Roettger reported a thick layer of dust coated Lind-Ritzville High School and Gilson Gymnasium, but maintenance workers arrived early Monday morning to clear the debris and allow students to attend classes as expected.

Damage at the school also included a fence being knocked over the track on Jimmie Snider Field; damage to the roofing on the edge of Gilson Gym; two trees fell near the ag shop in the city park, and a garage door in the bus barn bowed out from the extreme wind.

Firefighters, and county and city crews patrolled the city until around 1 a.m. on Monday morning, assisting residents and clearing obstructions in the roads.

Ritzville Fire Department handled a four- to five-acre blaze on the Lind-Ralston Road near the Pizarro Elevator that was started by a downed power line. City Fire Chief Andy LeFevre also reported that crews doused a small blaze on the roof of a home at the end of Eighth Avenue. The fire was starts by a downed power line that ignited the shingles on the roof of the home.

Todd O’Brien reported the Public Works department received reports from the Sheriff’s Department of 16 different sites needing county crews to clear roadways on Sunday night, with a half a dozen additional calls being received Monday morning.

The most extensive damage for the county crews reported by O’Brien during the county commissioners meeting on Monday morning was on Lee Road, where an estimated 30 power poles fell during the storm. Othello suffered severe weather damage as well, and an estimated 1,500 Avista Utilities customers experienced power outages in the wake of the storm.

In the southwest portion of Ritzville, a transformer fell from a pole in the area of Seventh Avenue and Washington Street, knocking out power for an estimated 172 Avista customers. The outage left residents from the west side of Division Street, down Seventh Avenue and out to Weber Road and Fairway Avenue, in a blackout. Avista crews arrived on-site early in the morning and worked diligently, but were unable to replace the transformer and restore power to residents until 5:15 p.m. on Monday.

Five separate outages in the city, affecting less than five customers each, were also reported and fixed by Avista. Washtucna suffered a power outage leaving an estimated 40 Avista customers without power, while Big Bend Electric Cooperative responded to power outages in the Ralston area caused by Sunday night’s storm.

The Ritzville power outage also had an effect on East Adams Rural Hospital and Ritzville Medical Clinic, which had to use the hospital’s emergency generator for power. Director of Nursing Brenda Herr explained the generator did not produce enough power to operate the critical systems, preventing CT scans and X-rays to be sent out to be read by radiologists.

The hospital immediately went into divert and notified area hospitals the emergency room in Ritzville could not receive any trauma cases. Still without power on Monday, the medical clinic closed at 2 p.m. but the hospital reopened to patients Monday evening.

On Tuesday evening, residents and city crews continued to clear debris from yards and sidewalks, with the majority of roadways being cleared and reopened for traffic.