With one storm past and another heading on in, it’s a good time to stop and tip our hats to the people who have been mitigating the storm’s damage even when it was still occurring.
According to Jennifer Gordon, Kenmore public works operations manager, the storm damage in town wasn’t too severe, especially when compared with other cities.
“We only had a handful of trees come down in the right-of-way that damaged power/other utility lines and were blocking roadways,” Gordon said. “These roadways were mostly cleared for vehicular traffic by Sunday.”
Other debris was left until more important areas were cleared, with schools a priority and arterial through-ways and then residential backroads.
“Clean up will likely take a couple weeks,” Gordon said. “Puget Sound Energy crews were working around the clock to restore power in the Kenmore area through yesterday.”
Wallace Swamp Creek Park was the hardest hit in the storm with plenty of wind-borne damage to trees warranting a closure of the park until yesterday, Tuesday, Sept. 1.
“We estimate that there are around two dozen large trees down in the park. We will be evaluating the rest of the park property and decide how much cleanup we will do over the next few weeks,” Gordon said. “The size and number of down trees is shocking. Rhododendron Park also had some tree damage along 68th Ave NE and all of the parks have a lot of debris that will take weeks to clean up as well.”
In the break between storms, Gordon would like to remind people that it’s a great time to prepare disaster kits with supplies such as water, food, battery-operated radio, flashlight with extra batteries, a first aid kit and blankets.
According to Leslie Harris, the city of Kenmore’s public information officer, Kenmore is a great place to weather the storms.
“I would like to say I was amazed by the overwhelming amount of generosity and support displayed by Kenmore residents through the Kenmore Neighbors Facebook page,” Harris said. “People were offering those without power food and supplies to help get through the power outage. Kenmore is filled with such compassionate individuals.”
