2019_KittitasCountyHMP_Volume2_For Adoption

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CHAPTER 4. CITY OF ELLENSBURG ANNEX 2 – Jurisdiction Vulnerability to Hazards— Ellensburg, along with all jurisdictions in Kittitas County, has an overall low vulnerability to avalanche, drought, landslide, and volcano hazards, and an overall high vulnerability to severe weather events. Based on the three dam failure scenarios used in this plan, 8% of Ellensburg’s population and 5% of property is at risk of dam failure. Ellensburg has high exposure to earthquakes, and various earthquake scenarios result in losses up to 3% of building value. Ellensburg has 791 buildings (17% of assessed building value) located in the 100- or 500-year floodplain, and therefore a high vulnerability to flood events. Ellensburg has moderate vulnerability to wildfires, with 5% of buildings exposed to the 0-30 Year Fire Interval. – Brief History—Ellensburg is located on the western slopes of the Columbia Plateau, site of some dramatic geological events that have occurred over time. Basaltic lava flows took place some 15 million years ago, with a series of giant glacial flood events after the ice age. The largest documented flood in geologic history occurred when a very large water body in the Montana region suddenly breached, causing huge volumes of water to rapidly sweep across the basaltic plateau as it made its way westward to sea level at the Pacific Ocean. More recently, in 1980 Mt. St. Helens, one of a string of active volcanoes in the Cascade Mountain Range, erupted and caused significant property damage and loss of life in the immediate vicinity of the mountain; Ellensburg was impacted with significant ash from that eruption, causing property damage, health issues, and general disruption to the normal activities of the community. Those events have shaped the landscape of central and eastern Washington where Ellensburg is located. The first inhabitants of the Ellensburg area were the Psch-wan-wap-pams (stony ground people) also known as the Kittitas band of the Yakama or Upper Yakama Tribe. The Ellensburg area was one of the few areas in Washington where both camas and kouse (a root used make to bread) grew, which made it an important gathering place for regional tribes. Eventually fur trading and missionary activity entered the valley in the 1860s and by the end of that decade a trading post known as “Robber’s Roost” was established. The late 1800s saw the community prosper as the Northern Pacific Railroad established a rail siding facility in Ellensburg in 1886 that helped create markets for cattle, dairy products, timber, wool and hay. There was speculation that as part of the region’s effort to petition Congress to admit Washington into the union in 1889, Ellensburg would be named the new state capitol due to its central location. A disastrous fire on July 4, 1889, fanned by the winds that regularly flow down from the Cascade Mountain Range to the west, ended that speculation and destroyed most of the downtown business district and many homes. The community rebuilt itself, using brick and stone masonry rather than wood, within a year. Although Ellensburg lost the state capitol decision to Olympia, the new State Legislature established the Washington State Normal School (a teacher’s college now known as Central Washington University) in Ellensburg. The school opened in 1891 with 86 students and today CWU has an enrollment exceeding 11,000 students, occupies approximately 380 acres, is the county’s largest employer with more than 1,300 employees, and is estimated to contribute some $190 million annually to the local economy. The timing of the fire and the rapid reconstruction of the destroyed downtown produced a unified and attractive appearance dominated by late Victorian architectural styles that have subsequently been filled in with a few early twentieth-century neoclassic and art deco-styled buildings. That historical style has defined the community and continues to serve as one of its biggest assets. Ellensburg has grown from its re-birth and has established itself as a vital, rooted, and unique community in which the residents consider it as being a quiet, clean, comfortable, safe, and family-oriented city.