I’m getting hit with all this 50 year anniversary stuff lately. I think I need to buy lotto tickets and use some of these dates as numbers to play. Today is the day after that famous Columbus Day Storm of 1962, so sorry, I know, old news. I was 12 years old then and I still remember quite a lot about that day.
It was a Friday. I remember being in the backyard watching the trees sway back and forth listening to the wind howl. We were fortunate and a little protected because our home was towards the bottom of the hill in Earlington, yet our garage got hit pretty hard and so did the back fence and a few trees. Fortunately, the damage in our neighborhood was minimal.
The plan was to go to the Renton High School Football game that night, but that didn't happen. The winds grew worse and all across town the power was going out. It was quite eerie hearing the trees cracking and branches braking off in the wind. All kinds of debris flew flew through the air then the light pole transformers started popping real loud and throwing fountains of sparks before all was dark.
Yesterday I was scouring the web for images and found this video on YouTube. Ironically I've been having fun playing with 8mm Vintage Camera, an app for my iPhone 4s to make your videos look retro. Here's the real deal...
Film courtesy of Ron Fulham on YouTube. This original 8mm movie was taken by his mom and dad in McMinnville, Oregon.
Surreal is an understatement. We had a fireplace but didn't dare light a fire. The downdrafts were so strong we had to close the chimney flue. We gathered in the front room and sat huddled around the candles listening to the tremendous roar just outside. I wasn't aware until years later that the entire coast was hard hit from California to British Columbia.
Over the weekend we ventured out to check on Grandma and Grandpa and friends and neighbors. There was a lot of damage around Renton. Trees were down everywhere and so were many power lines. Several homes and buildings had their roofs nearly or totally blown off, windows were broken, and the football stadium took some hard blows and lost a big section of its over hang.
Fifty years later on this Columbus Day we had no storm. After 86 mostly warm and sunny days we finally had rain. As one who was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, it was sure welcome!
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