Here in the Mid-Columbia  we're more used to severe wind conditions, and perhaps that's why we seem to be better prepared for it. But in Spokane, the recent windstorm that passed through us first has left the city still paralyzed.

My sister, who lives in the City of Spokane Valley (formerly, Veradale, Dishman, Opportunity and Green Acres) said they had a 70 mph. gust in her neighborhood, and others clocked near 75. That was enough to topple trees and power lines and prompt Spokane School officials to cancel class this week.

That's ironic because down here during the storm, weather officials said a gust of 100 mph was recorded on Rattlesnake Mountain.

Students will get an extra long Thanksgiving break, but will have to make up five days in January, February and the end of year in June. Spokane typically is known for losing days to snow, but not wind.

Part of the reason we don't get affected as badly is because we have far fewer really old trees near power lines, and because of the wind here, precautions are taken to reinforce infrastructure to withstand the gusts. According to the Spokesman-Review Newspaper, at the height of the storm, 180,000 Avista Power customers lost their electricity.

Several thousand are still powerless, and five schools scattered across the city have been opened up as "warming" stations for citizens who are without power and have no other ways to heat themselves. This comes as the National Weather Service is predicting the same cold, icy weather that will be hitting the Tri-Cities over the next few days.

My sister told me she was reduced to using her Coleman camping stove to heat water for essential use, and the light on her cellphone to find her way around her home until she could get candles and a fire lit in the fireplace.

 

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