When disaster strikes, a community comes together

LEAVENWORTH — When a severe windstorm rolled through Leavenworth on the evening of Dec. 10, resident Amy Carlson recalls feeling like her hillside home above East Leavenworth Road was in a “vortex,” with wind gusts reaching up to 90 miles per hour.

That night, seven trees came down on her property, one of which was a fir tree that slammed into her home. The tree took out her porch screen, came through the kitchen, and onto the upper roof. When it snapped, about 30 feet of the tree fell to the other side, shattering multiple windows.

“It was pretty devastating, and we just didn't know what to do,” said Carlson.

Like most residents in the morning following, Carlson was without power and cell service. Neighbors came to her immediate assistance, then somehow, word got out that more help was needed. In the days that followed, Carlson was surprised by seven volunteers walking down her driveway with chainsaws and tools. Then, more arrived the next day.

“I just was in awe, basically, of these young people who jumped in to just help,” said Carlson.

The group of volunteers had been coordinated by Luke Dixon, the manager of Eastside Rebuild, a Cashmere-based nonprofit that sells reclaimed building materials and rents tools.

“We're an organization that has affordable building materials and tools available for very low cost, and it's part of our mission to build a more resilient community. And so when that disaster came through, it was almost a no-brainer that we would do whatever we could to help the community,” said Dixon.

Eastside Rebuild made storm recovery tools available for free immediately following the storm, but the greatest impact was its coordinated volunteer group. Dixon said he deployed over 20 volunteers to about 14 different sites, collectively logging over 100 hours of service in just over a week.

“I was seeing a lot of people wanting to help…and started saying that people could contact us if they needed help, or if they wanted to help, and we would connect the dots,” said Dixon.

Throughout the Wenatchee River valley, volunteers and businesses helped impacted residents where they could. When 20 to 30 trees fell at Wenatchee River Institute, over 70 volunteers came to help clear debris during a weekend work party. Some of those volunteers made their way to Carlson’s after to help with more clean up.

“Just the mere fact that they give up their time to help somebody in need, like right away, was really heartwarming,” said Carlson. “I'm glad I live here and nowhere else, because it has been so supportive.”

Cascadia Conservation District and Chelan County Fire District #3 (CCFD#3) offered free wood-chipping services, Colchuck Consignment put together a list of disaster resources, and Prusik Kitchen and Bar provided meals, to name a few. At Coles Corner near Lake Wenatchee, Squirrel Tree Resort temporarily hosted about 40 residents who were displaced by the floods, and is now hosting The Alps Candy store, which has been affected by the prolonged closure of Tumwater Canyon.

“I saw people in need… So if I can help them out, why not? We're all a community here. We all kind of work together,” said Squirrel Tree Resort Vito Fedor.

As the community rebound from immediate impacts, there is still much to be done as residents rebuild and recover. As temperatures drop, some recovery will be postponed until spring. There are still ways to help community members manage the long-term impact, such as donating food, time or money to Upper Valley MEND or Plain Pantry, which provide a variety of assistance to upper valley residents in need.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media