‘Mother Nature’s relentless’: Rough weather shreds Deception Pass parking lot

‘Mother Nature’s relentless’: Rough weather shreds Deception Pass parking lot

Mother Nature has shut down a portion of Deception Pass State Park. Powerful winds and high waves dumped sand, logs, and debris all over the Western Beach parking lot.

It even ripped apart some of the asphalt, with waves taking the parking lot back into the ocean piece by piece.

“I’ve seen damage come up from waves and storms before but this,” said Bethany Jaques. “All of this I did not expect it. Half the parking lot is gone pretty much.”

Bethany said she had to come back to Deception Pass’ western lot Wednesday after watching waves thrash the beach the day before.

“I was getting whipped by sand coming up, dirt, the waves were coming up and splashing my face,” she said. “I couldn’t hear anything over the roar of the wind and the waves hitting the rocks.”

“Right up against those rocks right there you can see there’s a log getting tossed around in the back just like nothing,” Bethany continued.

Those waves ate up parts of the parking lot bite by bite. The surf washed some of that debris back onto the beach, making the piles of asphalt look like stacks of pancakes.

“I walked up, and it was pretty unexpected,” said Nate Barber, who was just seeing the damage for the first time.

He says he didn’t even recognize the area, and he’s been there before.

“I remember parking my car here a few years ago and now I see all the big blocks of cement off the road there,” said Barber.

“The ocean, mother nature took over it’s trying to reclaim it,” he added.

Washington State Parks says it will have a better idea of the damage and how long clean-up will take in the coming weeks. The only information they can share right now is the parking lot is closed until further notice.

“She’s relentless. Mother Nature’s absolutely relentless,” said Bethany.

While Washington State Parks said it’s still unclear when the parking lot will be reopened, they do know this isn’t the end of the winter weather.

King tides are also on their radar and could make the damage worse. They are asking people to stay clear of the area.