Howling winds ripped the roof off the TRM Wood Products lumber storage building at Four Corners in Maple Valley sometime after midnight Tuesday morning and the heavy rains caused the Jenkins Creek Park footbridge in Covington to collapse.
Covington city officials have closed the bridge to the public and is urging everyone to avoid using it. The city plans to hire a contractor to clear the debris by the end of the week.
City staff will explore ways to pay for a temporary bridge and eventually build a permanent structure.
At the TRM lumber yard Dakota Vigus and Tiny German were straightening out the yard and assessing the damage Tuesday afternoon.
German said there had been some roof damage from pervious windstorms to the building but nothing like this.
Vigus pointed out all the trusses and gables were torn out and the roof panels “were in the trees when we came in this morning.”
Winds whipped overnight Monday and early Tuesday morning, knocking out power in Thurston, Pierce and King counties.
As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, there were about 12,000 customers in 203 locations without power, according to Puget Sound Energy’s website.
Officials at Kentlake High School closed the school for the day at 10 a.m. while Tahoma Junior High was also closed by Tahoma School District officials due to power outages. The rest of the district was running two hours late.
“Our crews are working throughout the day to restore service,” PSE stated on its website. “There may be a few customers in hard to reach areas whose power will be restored Wednesday.”
In addition to the closure and two hour delays, according to Tahoma’s website, morning kindergarten and preschool was canceled, but afternoon kindergarten and preschool are still scheduled to meet. There will be limited transportation on Upper and Lower Dorre Don, Maxwell Road, Issaquah-Hobart Road between Levdansky Park and the Ravensdale Store.
According to the National Weather Service, a strong front moved through the region that produced a squall line with heavy showers, thunderstorms and gusty winds. The weather service predicted the front brought in a cooler air mass that will remain over the region for the rest of the week with wet and unsettled conditions.
At SeaTac Airport, winds peaked at 51 mph last night, with the highest peak wind coming in at 70 mph in Hoquiam and the lowest at West Point with 40 mph.
The roof of a TRM lumber storage building located at Four Corners in Maple Valley blew off early Tuesday morning, Dec. 14, during a wind and rain storm.
Dennis Box, The Reporter
John Filkins cuts up a tree on Summit-Landsburg Road Tuesday morning, Dec. 14, following a rain and wind storm that knocked the power out to the Tahoma Junior High School.
Dennis Box, The Reporter
