Crews scramble to restore power to thousands after windstorm
Nov 12, 2017, 10:09 PM | Updated: Nov 14, 2017, 7:49 am
Crews are working to restore electricity to thousands of customers after Monday’s windstorm.
One person was killed and another critically injured when a tree fell on their car driving through Renton during the storm.
In Port Orchard, a 15-year-old girl was struck by a tree as it fell into a mobile home. She was in her room at the time. The girl was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Power outages
As of 7:46 a.m.:
- A total of 16,179 Puget Sound Energy customers without power
- 159 outages in Seattle affecting 6,441 Seattle City Light customers
- Around 465 Snohomish PUD customers are without power
- Tacoma PUD reports a handful of outages
Western Washington experienced the worst of Monday’s windstorm around 4 p.m., but power outages continued into the evening. UW meteorologist Nick Bond said that a few areas saw wind speeds up to 65 mph.
“We are seeing gusts into the 50s all over the place,” Bond told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don. “A lot of the ferry rides across the Sound are pretty lively … In these intense storms, at these latitudes, there’s high wind and heavy rain that wraps around the back edges of the storm and that’s what we are encountering.”
A Wind Advisory was upgraded to a High Wind Warning Monday morning. It expired at 9 p.m.
Recorded wind speeds:
Crystal Mountain – 80 mph
West Point – 68 mph
Lopez Island – 63 mph
Whidbey Island NAS – 59 mph
Sea-Tac Airport – 52 mph
The wind knocked out power to thousands of people; nearly 185K customers were without power at the height of the storm.
Crews working in tough conditions pic.twitter.com/eMsd849iFD
— South King Fire (@Southkingfire) November 14, 2017
