The Storm

On July 10, 1998 an abnormal summer thunder storm with unusually high winds struck Lewiston’s Normal Hill area from the southeast. Within a half-hour several dozen trees in the residential neighborhood had been damaged or uprooted. 15 Silver Maple trees the Normal Hill Cemetery were blown down during the storm. The majestic maple trees, estimated to have been 80 years old, provided abundant shade in the cemetery imparting peacefulness and calm to the cemetery. The blow-down also destroyed the irrigation system. 

Within a month city crews and contracted hauling companies had cleared the cemetery of the huge tree trunks and roots. Temporary emergency irrigation measures were used to water the remaining trees and grass in the cemetery through the balance of the summer of 1998. A planting program was begun by the City Forester to replace street trees that had been destroyed. City crews from Parks and Recreation with help from inmates from Idaho Corrections worked through the fall, winter and the spring of 1999 to put in a new irrigation system. During the summer of 1999 boulevards in cemetery were paved.

As shown in the photos above, 20 large Vase Zelkova trees were planted in spring 2000 to replace the lost Silver Maples.

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Cemetery Census
Map
A Brief History
State Tree Grove
Quick Facts
Wind Storm