Ice Bound - Trapped in Orting

For some of use this past week’s events was not just a struggle to survive the dark and cold nights without power, it was a struggle to just get home. As a Boeing employee, Boeing operations never ceased, even in the midst of a Statewide Emergency Boeings doors stayed open. With that in mind I was one of the un-lucky few on their way to work who made it out of Orting on Hwy 162 before the brunt of the storm hit and the trees began to fall; thus sealing my fate along with many others with no means to get back in. (There is a whole other rant about Boeings Actions this past week but I will save that for another time.)

Forgoing the remainder of the drive into work, as soon as my wife informed me that the power was out, I knew I needed to get back home. Only problem was I couldn’t get there. I tried 162, but the bridge just south of 136th street was closed due to fallen trees. I attempted the back way from Bonney Lake only to find Hwy 162 from South Prairie to Orting was also closed due to fallen trees. I then attempted to head up Military Road which included a brief stint moving and cutting trees with some fellow Orting Residents who were trying to get up to South Hill only to find our way blocked by more trees and downed power lines. Moving trees is one thing, but me and my fellow band of travelers called it quits when we found our path blocked by power lines. Chainsaws tow straps and 4X4 pickup trucks are no match for electrical lines. So into Puyallup via 512 was my last ditch option, hoping to take Meridian all the way down to Graham praying that 200th street would still be open. Luck was on my side and 200th to Orting Kapowsin/Calistoga was open but not without its own danger of falling trees and branches. All told it took almost three hours to get back into Orting and home to my family. It was there that we would essentially be trapped for the next couple of days.

I can only imagine how Orting residents trapped in Orting felt while I was trying to get back in; thus bringing me to a very important observation as to the overall health of Washington States Infrastructure. Our Infrastructure is Old, Failing and Weak. This week’s snow and ice storm was a weak emergency as compared to what Orting Valley residents could face in terms of a Lahar or Earthquake. A simple snow and ice storm trapped us in, leaving me to ask, how would the thousands of residents’ in the Orting Valley escape if our lives truly depended upon it. The bottle necks are beyond obvious and the time for local, county and state officials to act is now. Hwy 162 is a death trap waiting to happen.

I am not a sky is falling sort of person, but ask yourselves just what would you have done if you or a family member during this week’s events had suffered a heart attack, gone into labor, had a broken limb or some other such malady? Who was going to take you to the Hospital and how would they have gotten you there and by what route. When seconds count, would you want to ride in the back of an ambulance whose path is blocked in every direction it turns. Even if you made it up Calistoga to 200th, you still would have to contend with Hwy 161 hoping beyond hope that they could get you to Good Sam in time.

It’s been nearly a week since the storms hit yet it is still taking almost an hour to get from Orting to Hwy 410. Sixty minutes for what should be a short ten mile drive. To make matters worse, strong winds caused even more power outages in Sumner turning traffic signals dark and backing traffic up even more. I say enough is enough and that regardless of what Mother Nature throws our way, the time to fix the infrastructure is now. We pay an exorbitant amount of local, county and states taxes with our gas taxes being some of the highest in the nation. It’s time to put those taxes to work for us and that they are used to widen Hwy 162, ensuring that when the need for us to really evacuate town happens…WE CAN.