‘Total war zone’: Yosemite area hit hard by wind

FRESNO, Calif. — Lindsay Stevenson was in a camper van in the Yosemite National Park community of Wawona earlier this week when strong winds toppled hundreds of trees, snapping trunks in half and ripping roots out of the ground.

She said her husband, a U.S. Army veteran, described the wind event as “100 times worse” than the Afghanistan War.

When the sun rose Tuesday morning, a “total war zone” was revealed following a terrifying night of nonstop crashing sounds.

Powerful winds here, known as Mono winds, aren’t unfamiliar to those living in the Yosemite area. But this time, wind speeds reached higher-thannormal levels — in some places, more than 100 mph — and resulted in unprecedented, widespread devastation. Hundreds of trees in the Sierra Nevada were toppled Monday night into early Tuesday, and dozens of homes and vehicles were crushed in rural mountain towns.

Yosemite National Park remained closed as a result of the wind damage. Park spokesman Scott Gediman said the park hopes to reopen Tuesday, but Yosemite’s south entrance via Highway 41 will be closed to visitors past that date for safety reasons as crews work to repair downed electrical lines. All areas south of Yosemite Valley will also remain closed until further notice. Damage assessment continues in the park.

Gediman called the Mono winds’ event the park’s biggest in terms of wind speed and damage caused over his 25 years in Yosemite.

Much of the damage was reported in Mariposa and Madera counties. Wawona, and Bass Lake farther south, were among communities hardest hit.

Many residents were still without electricity late in the week and scrambling to patch up damaged roofs ahead of this weekend’s rain and snow. No injuries had been reported in Yosemite and its surrounding communities from the wind event.

Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese, also the county’s director of emergency services, issued a local emergency proclamation on Tuesday requesting state and/ or federal assistance.

“Businesses were already in an emergency situation and revenue is already drastically impacted due to COVID19,” said Mariposa County Economic Development Specialist Tara Schiff, “so this disaster just adds one more layer of financial stress.”

Resident Steve Arata said there was “total devastation” in Bass Lake and he hopes his community gets more help soon.

“The governor needs to get here and declare a state of emergency,” Arata said Tuesday, “because there’s at least 40 homes that are destroyed with trees. … There’s multiple gas leaks.”