Troopers and DOT remove trees that fell on Interstate 5 overnight / Courtesy photo Trooper Doug Pardue
This news story was updated at 11:50 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Strong winds overnight toppled trees onto Interstate 5 south of Vader blocking all the southbound lanes.
One lane remains closed this morning for a work zone as authorities prepare to deal with partially uprooted trees they’re concerned could fall onto the roadway, according to the state Department of Transportation.
The first of the trees came down about 11:40 p.m. last night near milepost 54 and the Tootle River Rest Area. Trooper Doug Pardue estimated between eight and 12 trees fell.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Chris Burke called it a “squall line” that blew through the area.
“Short duration of strong wind,” Burke said. “A line of thunderstorms moves through rapidly and brings the wind up.”
A detour was put in place overnight using exit 57 at Barnes Drive and exit 52 north of Castle Rock.
State Route 507 at Bucoda remains blocked this morning in both directions from power lines over the roadway.
Firefighters from Bucoda and Tenino responded to the call about 1 o’clock this morning. First responders were still waiting about 11:15 a.m. for Puget Sound Energy to clear the scene. As of 11:50 a.m., alternating one-way traffic was getting through.
Motorists are advised to avoid the area at milepost 10 near Sumner Street, according to DOT.
Winds blew very strong around midnight in Centralia sending responders to one downed power line on lower Cooks Hill. A roughly 20-foot section from the top of a tree snapped and dropped onto a parked passenger vehicle on the 300 block of M Street, according to Centralia police.
At the Chehalis-Centralia Airpot at 11:55 p.m., winds were measured at 21 mph with a gusts up to 35 mph, according to the weather service.
In Napavine “It was raining sideways and crazy blowing at the station,” District 5 Lt. Laura Hanson said.
A tree fell on top of a house in Mossyrock, but no one was injured.
Lewis County Fire District 3 Chief Matt Hadaller said it happened about 1 a.m. on the 100 block of West State Street. The roof of the single-story home was damaged, he said.
Firefighters this morning returned to cut up the Douglas Fir.
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DOT says motorists in both directions should expect slowdowns and delays of up to 20 minutes between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. this afternoon on Interstate 5 near the Tootle River Rest Area in north Cowlitz County when workers drop a 100-foot-tall tree.
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Guest column: Now I lay me down to sleep; an end to addiction
December 14th, 2010By Judy O’Brien
Doty resident
Note: Judy O’Brien shared the following words with friends as they commented over the weekend on a news story about recent suspected drug overdoes in Centralia.
She last saw her 37-year-old daughter 18 months ago in Olympia. Stacey O’Brien Hofland grew up in Doty and went to W.F. High School.
DOTY – The battle of drug addictions is an internal war in which those who are not users in that war can not truly understand. I can’t understand it but I do know it is the saddest and most dangerous of addictions.
Stacey O'Brien Hofland
The newspaper article said a decomposed body had been discovered in a sleeping bag off of Interstate 5 in Tumwater this past Thanksgiving day.
The average person reads that, shakes their head and moves on to another article. For the last several years I have never read those and moved on.
I would then start the search to know if that homeless and newly discovered body was that of my daughter. It won’t be necessary for me to search any longer … she is no longer a meth addict, or homeless. She is just no longer.
The story of Stacey O’Brien is like so many; it is not unique.
The lack of uniqueness is the problem our individual families face throughout our society. Many intelligent young adults become meth addicts.
Stacey was raised in Lewis County, attended our schools, had siblings, grandparents, husband, children and parents that cared. She was smart, pretty, manipulative, cunning, a convincing liar and outgoing.
These personality traits made it possible for her to appear functional while her life of addiction was anything but functional.
She has been gone from my day-to-day life for a very long time.
I had never quite got over having a sliver of hope that she would “hit bottom”. As her life spun out of control and she became more dependent on drugs she made the choice to live in a bottomless pit.
She gave birth several times over the years, and was unable to care for her children. Others stepped in and brought home a child to give them a better life. After the completion of the last adoption, she told me then she just was no longer going to fight the addiction.
I remember clearly the eyes of acceptance that looked at me to understand she could not do it anymore. I understood.
My last time with her was a step back in time, she was my daughter and I was her mom. We cried and explained how we wished things were different, explored how her life had become what it was.
As she loaded the last of her belongings into my car she hugged me, said “I love you Ma” and walked down the alley from the church parking lot back into the streets of Olympia.
She did not look back and I just stood there in tears knowing I would not see her again. It was our good-bye.
She would call me at our agreed time frame so I would know she was still among the living. I was left feeling hopeless and helpless after each call.
There won’t be a call in a few weeks and this time I will not have to look for unidentified bodies or go to Olympia looking for her in the corners of the drug world. She has finally found a place where meth won’t torment her any longer and she will no longer to be destructive to herself or the world around her.
The coroner’s office told me it was a death by natural causes. She had crawled in her sleeping bag, fell asleep and died at the age of 36. The assumption is a drug overdose that caused a heart attack.
As the words droned on I could have sworn I heard the voice of my daughter praying her childhood prayer:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
If your family has been impacted by addiction please know you are not alone. Join a support group and learn how to cope with the addict and the consequences of addictions.
There is a 24 hour / seven day a week drug and alcohol help line available; it is sponsored by the state and works through DSHS: 1-800-562-1240.
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