Close call: Tree takes out kids' bedroom and family kitchen

OLYMPIA -- Thursday night, just after fixing dinner in the kitchen of her Olympia home, Susan Hood heard a huge crash.

“We walked into the kitchen and it was just amazing,” Hood said Friday. “There was insulation all over the place, and there was a tree down in our kitchen.”

In the midst of the storm, strong winds snapped a large tree behind her home. It did double damage, first tearing through the neighbors’ house, and landing in a spot that is every parents’ nightmare.

“It fell into their children’s room on to their bunk-bed,” said Hood. “The kids were not in there, Thank God. We were all really shook up.”



Now they’re calculating the costs to repair, and cleaning up, which is the story all over Pierce and Thurston counties.

Bill Waymare handles maintenance for a retirement community in Olympia, and he’s now putting his chainsaw to work on a large tree that fortunately fell on a grassy area and not toward the street.

“It could have reached that sidewalk and the street,” said Waymare. “Fortunately, there’s not too much damage, and just a lot of clean up.”

Just around the corner, a tree did fall across the road and into power lines. Crews scrambled to get things back to normal.

At the Red Wind Casino, things got back to normal surprisingly quick. The casino opened for business just hours after firefighters battled huge flames, sparked by a tree falling on an 18,000-gallon propane tank.

Everyone inside the casino made it out OK, as they did at Hood’s house, but Thursday’s storm has still left her shaken.

“I grew up here, and I’ve never been afraid of storms but after last night I probably will be a little bit nervous when it’s windy.”