Recently I saw some unusual things when I went running. Less than two blocks from my house, I came across this.

One tree came down on the house, and the other blocked a major arterial. I continued my run and after a couple more blocks, I saw this.

A storm hit Spokane on Nov. 17th with winds that hit 71 mph. Two people were killed by falling trees in separate incidents, and so many fell onto power lines and into power poles, that of the 272,000 households in the two counties in which Spokane and Coeur d’Alene are located, over 200,000 lost power. That’s over 73% of all homes.

A few days after the storm, I was at a Starbucks and Stephanie Moran-Kuest, a fellow running club member came in. Her house was cold and without power, her car had been smashed by a tree, and a news crew was in front of her house. She wasn’t too thrilled with her situation, as you might guess. The car in the below photo isn’t Stephanie’s, but perhaps hers was roughly in the same shape.

Among other running club members that suffered damage, one couple had a single tree that smashed both their cars, and another guy had a pipe burst in his freezing home, leaving a few inches of water in his basement.

I was without power for several days, but I have a wood-burning fireplace insert and was able to stay comfortable, I don’t have any large trees in my yard, so my house was undamaged. However, my neighbor across the alley from me took a hit.

Utility crews worked 16-hour days in sub-freezing temperatures, and by Nov. 27th the last home without power in Spokane had it restored. I thought it was an admirable effort. I’ve never worked a 16-hour day in my life. Nor have I been outside in sub-freezing weather for 16 hours straight.

Some residents face bigger problems that will take longer to resolve. I have sympathy for this homeowner on Spokane’s northside.