Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Midday windstorm update

The storm is over, but what a mess it has left. The latest advisories:
King County District Court and nine Public Health – Seattle & King County facilities are closed due to power outages as a result of a severe wind and rain storm that swept through the region overnight. King County’s Wastewater Treatment system also suffered significant impacts due to flooding from the storm.

Numerous roads in King County are closed and could remain impassable into Friday because of fallen trees and power lines.

Executive Ron Sims signed an emergency proclamation this morning in response to the overnight wind and flooding occurring throughout the county. The King County Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) was activated overnight to monitor the situation and help coordinate the county’s response efforts.

Early indications are that King County is one of the hardest hit areas with power outages in the region. Puget Sound Energy is reporting 700,000 customers without power in their nine-county service area.

A number of King County operations are affected, including:

District and Juvenile Courts – The King County District and Juvenile Courts are closed today due to the inclement weather. King County District Court has no power in many of its courthouses and Juvenile Court is closed due to flooding. King County Superior Court is open.

Public Health – The following Public Health sites are closed until further notice because of power outages: Auburn, Federal Way, Springwood, White Center, Columbia, Eastgate, Northshore, Renton Dental and North Dental.
Many state highways are closed in places due to damage from the storm. WSDOT has a page with the latest alerts and information. This seems to be a once-a-decade or maybe once-in-two-decades storm.

One million households without power, four people dead, flooding in places, downed trees and power lines everywhere. Two thirds of Puget Sound Energy's customers are dark, including practically entire cities like Redmond where stores remain unlit and traffic lights are not operational.

The utility has called in extra crews from California and Nevada already to restore power as speedily as possible, but it will be a monumental task. If you live in outlying areas, better prepare to be without power for as long as a week.

(Then again, if you don't have power you probably can't read this message...but if you can, stock up and get ready).

Puget Sound Energy is assessing the damage with helicopters. Repairs can't be made on feeder lines until the transmission lines are repaired. (These are the major lines that carry power from sources like dams to substations).

90 MPH gusts were reported at Westport last night. SeaTac set a record with 69 MPH winds recorded. Tacoma reported 70 MPH winds.

And now, believe it or not, there are reports of snow showers coming in. And it's supposed to get colder. Haven't we had enough of this already!?

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