Orting, Be Proud Of Yourself

You can't help but feel an intense amount of community pride these days living in Orting.  We're now on the other side of one of the oddest weather events in our City's history, 'The Big Prune', and what seemed at the time to be an amazingly devastated area, is now bustling through the early part of the year with a little more spring in their step.  What was it?

Harry Truman was quoted as saying "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit".  I bring this up because almost everybody in this valley woke up January 13th - not so long ago - and their world was changed.  Without electricity, internet, cellular coverage...the world was dark, cold, devoid of media. 

But there was one new noise...

What sounded like a cacophony of calving glaciers in northern Alaska, was the sound of history crashing to the ground.  From the historic and stately 'Orting Trees' in Orting's downtown park to nearly every tree in every yard, pasture, hillside and garden, Mother Nature decided it was time to prune.  And she did.

From this event, a community seemed 'born again'.  Countless actions from nearly everybody showed concern and assistance.  From stopping for somebody to cross the street, the Comcast guy who - seeing me wrestle with downed lines in my front yard - offered to 'tidy things up for me'.  Puget Sound Energy, City of Orting, DNR, and out of state line crews were amazing as Jim Vaughn and Jenni Sargent so kindly wrote.  City of Orting crews worked around the clock and then some.  Warming stations set up.  Neighbors turned off the TV, iPads/Kindles/iPods were put down (after the batteries died), Dutch Ovens came into fashion, and kindness sprang up from the now bow-littered grounds of our Valley.

The City of Orting Clean Up is this Saturday.  If you need assistance or want to volunteer call 360.893.5827 For immediate assistance call now.  If you'd like to volunteer, meet at High School at 9AM on February 4th.  Bring rakes, gloves and dress in layers.

The photo credit for this story was submitted by Michele Leaver, and numerous community members added to this Official Photo Record of the storm.  You're welcome to submit yours to info@OrtingNews.com

I've never really been the guy to walk up to a truck of power workers in the Safeway parking lot to tell them "Thanks for everything."  I did that this week.  There are many people that did.  So for all you people, Thank You.  What an event it was, and we all seemed to come together, even though we were all apart.

This sentiment is echoed across the region.  Although calls are still trickling in to Pierce County, the call volume is diminishing steadily compared to the approximately 600 phone calls that Pierce County received last week for downed trees, snow and ice concerns, and localized flooding. County crews continue to make good progress removing and chipping roadside tree debris.

"I am so proud of the thorough response by Pierce County employees," County Executive Pat McCarthy said. "Road crews plowed hundreds of miles of roads. Employees in various divisions throughout Public Works and Utilities pitched in to help clear downed trees and other debris. Our Sewer Utility staff managed pump stations and the wastewater treatment plant during power outages and spikes. And our Emergency Management staff helped coordinate the entire response. This was a total team effort to keep Pierce County residents safe."

Here is a detailed look at Pierce County's response to the storm:

ROADS: About 340 sites experienced lane or road closures due to tree debris and downed utility lines in the roadway. Crews went through 2,516 tons of salt, plowed 1,517 lane miles of primary arterial routes multiple times, and cleared 924 lane miles of secondary roads in unincorporated Pierce County. They worked 12-hour shifts in 28 snow-response zones.

Public Works and Utilities brought in not only their road operations crews, but also enlisted employees from their traffic division, surface water management division, equipment services division and the sewer utility to help with chainsaw operation for downed trees, snowplow operation, brush chipper operation and other tasks that needed immediate attention.

"Though we've been working very long hours in a high stress environment since last weekend, we've experienced only two minor injuries and no significant equipment damage. In my experience, these last two facts are remarkable, especially since our team could hear trees crashing around them as they cleared roads," said Bruce Wagner, road operations manager.

SEWER: Sewer Utility works kept 59 pump stations operating during power and data outages. They also kept the Chambers Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant operating during multiple power failures and voltage spikes, giving customers one less thing to worry about.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Department of Emergency Management personnel worked round the clock to coordinate the response with public safety agencies, power companies and aid organizations. The department posted more than 100 items on its emergency blog and the county's Twitter account to keep citizens, businesses, jurisdictions and policymakers up to date on the progress of the emergency response. Staff continue to take hundreds of calls from residents and businesses in the Damage Assessment Center, which is a critical step in the process of seeking a federal disaster declaration.

The new road closure map on the emergency information blog was activated for the first time for this incident. Public Works and Utilities field staff entered road information on their laptops, which immediately updated the road closure map.

Volunteers played a critical role in providing transportation, communication and emergency shelter. Shelters were set up in those areas that lost power for overnight, Ham radio operators kept the communication going between the shelters and emergency operations centers, and the Search and Rescue 4x4 team provided transportation for essential hospital and caregiver personnel, as well as to some of our more vulnerable residents. In one instance, a ride to a shelter was provided to an 82-year-old woman and her 102-year-old mother.

'This is why the volunteer groups train and give of their time and resources - to be able to help in times of emergency like this,' said Emergency Management Director Steve Bailey. 'They are an integral part of any of our activations and are much appreciated.'