Putting the pieces back together… together

PINEHURST — “It really was a perfect storm.”

Pinehurst Mayor Bob Jutila watched in horror as the 134-year-old Tall Pine swayed in the wind before it came crashing down on top of the local landmark restaurant, but that was really only the beginning of what would be an incredibly busy few days in the quiet bedroom community.

While power has since been restored — to some people, the damage caused by last Wednesday’s windstorm won’t ever be forgotten, especially by Jutila, who is singing the praises of his town, it’s residents, and all those people who came together to put their beloved town back together.

“I couldn’t believe the destruction,” Jutila said. “Watching that tree come down on the Tall Pine — just gut wrenching.”

Mayor Jutila’s comments about the storm being perfect really ring true when you take into consideration the factors surrounding the storm itself.

Heavy rainstorms saturated the ground while warm temperatures loosened up what should have been frozen soil, then came the wind.

During most windstorms, the classic snapping of trees is common and expected — not the amazing sight of hundreds of trees simply blown over and uprooted like the one experienced last week.

Avista Utilities operation manager for the Kellogg area, Jesse Butler, believed that while the western half of the county experienced the worst of the damage, it was Pinehurst who took the brunt of the wind.

And the consequences for his company and the customers they serve was off the charts.

“As far as the cities in the Silver Valley are concerned, I believe Pinehurst was impacted the most by Wednesday’s historic storm that wreaked havoc on Avista’s service territory,” Butler said. “There are a lot of trees in that area and the outages were caused by trees and tree limbs coming into contact with Avista’s power poles and lines.”

Since the conclusion of the storm — Butler and his crews, both local and the backups that were called in from across the region, have been working around the clock to get power restored — a task that was more difficult than anyone could have imagined.

“Our focus has been on the restoration,” Butler said. “We’ve replaced more than 40 poles so far. At the start of the storm, every customer in the Silver Valley was out of power, roughly 11,000 customers.”

Replacing a single pole takes anywhere from four to eight hours, and with all of the downed lines and poles across the area, the work is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

“Crews continue to face challenges such as navigating the snow and debris, as well as access limitations in some areas,” Butler said. “There are a lot of trees on the ground and rugged terrain has been a challenge as well. The work has been challenging and the hours have been long. Avista crews and support staff remain positive and focused on restoring power to our customers. We will continue to work around the clock until everyone is restored.”

Completing the work has come at the expense of a small army from Avista, including 60 line crews, 43 contract crews, 19 vegetation management crews and 22 mutual aid crews from utilities outside the area, roughly 460 people working directly on restoring power to the residents of Shoshone County.

The resilience of Pinehurst and its residents has Mayor Jutila blown away (pun absolutely intended), but it has also been a source of pride for him as his town continues to navigate what will be a long road back from the storm.

“I couldn’t believe the amount of citizens out busting their butts, getting roads opened up and getting things cleaned up,” Jutila said. “It was awesome to see the community get out together — Menke’s Tree Service has been great and Avista has been incredible.”

Jutila estimates well over 100 trees were blown over or damaged in the storm, and that more than a dozen homes or structures in the city suffered significant damage from them.