Violent Windstorm Shreds Walla Walla County Infrastructure
A sudden, shifting gale rips roofs from elevators and destroys miles of railroad sand fencing across the valley.
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Reports from outlying districts brought to the city yesterday show that the damage done by the high wind Wednesday forenoon was considerably more than was first supposed. One hundred and ten feet of roofing on the Pacific Coast Elevator's warehouses at Spofford was ripped off by the gale and the roof of the Climax warehouse on the line of the W. C. R. R. was scattered over the surrounding country. The railroad companies suffered the most inconvenience in the interruption of telegraph service and in levelled sand fences in the Wallula district. Several miles of fencing erected to keep back the shifting sands were blown down and will have to be replaced immediately. Telegraph service along the line of the W. C. R. R. was re-established this morning and the work of repairing damage to warehouses along the line has been commenced. A force of carpenters and electricians yesterday nearly completed repairs on the damaged power house of the Northwestern Gas and Electric Company on upper Mill creek, nearly wrecked by the gale. The roofing blown off was replaced and one of the smoke stacks toppled over will be lighted immediately. Farmers in the city yesterday brought tales of blown down fences and outbuildings insecurely fastened. The suddenness with which the wind swooped down on the valley was a surprise. Several farmers of the Milton neighborhood declare that the wind must have reached a velocity of 60 miles an hour for a few minutes. Instead of blowing from a single direction the wind kept constantly shifting, badly wrenching barns and outbuildings.
“The suddenness with which the wind swooped down on the valley was a surprise.”
Extreme wind events remain a persistent challenge in the Walla Walla valley, particularly for agricultural infrastructure. While telegraph lines have been replaced by fiber optics and satellite, the vulnerability of the region's expansive warehouse and transit networks to high-velocity gusts persists as a seasonal reality.
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