70-mph winds crush mobile home park south of Tri-Cities. 165 left homeless

An Oregon town south of the Tri-Cities expected to declare a state of emergency Tuesday night after 70-mph winds destroyed much of a mobile home park.

About 165 residents were left without a place to stay when heavy tree limbs crushed homes and cars and knocked out power and water.

Boardman is a town of about 3,400 that sits along the Columbia River and Interstate 84 about 50 miles from Kennewick.

It’s home to several potato and food processors, including Lamb Weston and Oregon Potato Company, as well as an Amazon data center.

The wind and heavy rainstorm that blew through the region Saturday, May 30, pummeled the Wilson Road Mobile Home Park.

Ten of the park’s 78 homes were destroyed, said the Boardman Rural Fire Protection District. Two other homes were seriously damaged.

Several vehicles also were damaged or destroyed.

Boardman police and fire officials and the Red Cross worked with community leaders and property owners to house and feed the residents.

Then, the police and fire agencies formed a joint unified command post the next day.

“Community volunteers rallied together to assist this small community in removing, what they could, of the down trees and branches. Others quickly started preparing meals,” said the rural fire district on Tuesday.

“Some of the residents being sheltered will require long-term needs as the homes are unlivable,” said the fire district.

Lisa Ahumada, the mobile home park manager, told the East Oregonian that more than 50 trees were uprooted, damaging water lines and causing a power outage.

No one was hurt, but the mobile park is asking for mattress donations for residents who permanently lost homes.

“I’ve been managing here for 12 years, this (windstorm) is beyond anything I’ve seen,” Ahumada told the EO.

About 200 community volunteers, including members of the First Baptist Church, have been helping to clean up the debris.

A GoFundMe page has raised about $4,000 so far for a Boardman relief fund to help people left homeless.