Community response overpowers Mother Nature’s wrath

Without question, the best news when the storm subsided Sunday evening was that no one was seriously injured or killed.

There was notable property damage to homes and public facilities, but everyone walked away relatively unscathed. While many were left in the dark as a result of power outages, no one lost their homes or their lives.

In the morning light on Monday, a true testament to community became clear. Volunteers began arriving at Ritzville City Park and Ritzville Municipal Golf Course to help clear the massive amount of debris from a large number of fallen and broken trees.

Elsewhere around the city, neighbors were helping neighbors clean up from the wind and dust driven storm that made a notable mess throughout the upper half of the city. We’re hearing similar stories from out in the rural area where farm homes were ravished by the wall of dust that rolled through.

We’re impressed by the outpouring of help and the spirit of community this storm has highlighted. We do not know all the names of those who have done good deeds in the past few days. We do know there were many of you and we applaud all of you for your efforts.

Thank you for helping your friends, neighbors and the community. Your efforts are the kind of actions that help pull a community together.