'Where’s FEMA?': Mirrormont, WA residents plead for assistance after bomb cyclone
Mirrormont community still reeling from storm damage
Mirrormont, Washington got some of the worst damage in Tuesday's "bomb cyclone" storm, with residents still without phone service and trees blocking many local roads.
MIRRORMONT, Wash. - The forested community of Mirrormont near Tiger Mountain is reeling after a bomb cyclone brought destruction that residents say they’ve never seen before.
The storm, which struck on Tuesday, left homes damaged, roads blocked, and power grids destroyed, cutting off communication and leaving many without essentials for days.
Erin Griffin has called Mirrormont home since 1996. In all that time she’s only had a couple of trees come down, but nothing to this scale. On Tuesday night, two massive pines from her neighbor’s yard crashed into her home. One went right through her master bathroom.
In the days immediately following the storm, residents were effectively trapped, unable to escape their driveways.
"There were trees down everywhere," Griffin explained. "You couldn’t go driveway to driveway without having a tree down."
Deadly storm slams western Washington, topples trees, kills 2
A powerful storm swept through western Washington on Tuesday, leaving a trail of destruction and claiming two lives in separate incidents involving falling trees.
Griffin says it took days before she and her neighbors could get back on the road.
However, challenges remain. Many residents are navigating through downed power lines and brush while dealing with a boil water advisory caused by broken lines.
As Mirrormont residents cope with the slow recovery, they are calling for state and federal support. At this point, Governor Jay Inslee has not visited any impacted areas or held a press conference addressing the destruction.
FOX 13 reached out to Inslee’s office, which referred to a written statement published Thursday. He acknowledged the damage and persistent outages, offered condolences to impacted families, and words of gratitude for utility crews working around the clock to bring the lights back on.
When asked why he was not touring the damage, a spokesperson for the governor told FOX 13 that a visit from the governor could "get in the way" of recovery efforts.
The governor’s office also confirmed that no city or county had requested emergency assistance from the state, a necessary step before seeking aid from FEMA.
As recovery efforts crawl forward, some residents say they’ve become desensitized to the chaos around them.
"I think we’re so used to it after a couple days," Griffin said.
While the community continues to clear the wreckage and adjust to life without power, residents are holding onto hope that their calls for help will be answered soon. They do not expect to have power back in their homes by the Thanksgiving holiday.
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