Tacoma, Wash. — A Tacoma marina was battered by Wednesday’s strong winds after getting clogged up by flood debris, causing tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage.
The wind blew boats around, breaking pilings and causing boat slips to fall apart.
“Over here we’ve got a dock that’s broken in half, I’ve got two pilings that are broken and another dock that’s pretty trashed on a broken piling,” Willie Halbert, manager of the Crow’s Nest Marina, told KIRO 7.
It’s been a busy time for Halbert and his team, removing debris and repairing boat slips. He blames an unlucky combination of tide levels and strong winds for the damage. In all, he estimates it will cost about $20,000 to get the place fixed up.
“We got a pretty good gust through here the other night,” he said.
The dozens of seals that hang out at the marina weren’t the only ones to weather the winds; dozens of people did, too, as many of the boats moored there are liveaboards.
“There were two huge gusts that caused our neighbor’s boat to break loose and hit our boat, which was very scary to wake up to,” Viv Hernandez, who rode out the winds in her boat, said.
In the days leading up to the windstorm, the marina dealt with another weather-related issue. Much of the debris pulled into the Puyallup River came out across the bay from the marina, leaving so much debris in the water that it looked like solid ground.
Halbert said there were repeated incidents of dogs jumping into the water, thinking they could walk on it.
“We had a couple of chocolate labs, and they jumped down there thinking they could walk on the stuff. They are pretty good in the water, so it wasn’t dangerous for them,” he said. “But there are other dogs that have been trapped, little dogs trapped. Someone was lucky enough to see them and rescue them.”
Halbert said all the wood was not particularly disruptive because almost no one goes boating in the current weather conditions. Most of the debris has drifted away from the marina and will likely end up on beaches.
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