EVERETT — Some people in Snohomish County and on Camano Island might be without power for two or three more days after this weekend’s windstorm.
More than 150 workers were clearing trees and replacing power lines around the county Sunday afternoon, with more help on the way, according to the Snohomish County PUD.
Saturday’s storm caused a record number of power outages for the PUD, spokesman Bob Bolerjack said. The number peaked at 175,000 in Snohomish County and on Camano Island Saturday afternoon.
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, about 55,000 people remained without power. Outages were scattered but Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, Maltby, Clearview, East Marysville, Lake Stevens, North Tulalip, Camano Island and South Everett were particularly hard hit.
“This was just a devastating storm,” Bolerjack said. “Really big trees went down everywhere. We’re going to have crews working around the clock until everyone’s back up.”
Mutual aid crews were on their way from utility districts in Chelan, Grant and Cowlitz counties Sunday afternoon and about 50 local crews were in the field doing assessments, clearing trees and replacing power poles and lines, said Neil Neroutsos, another PUD spokesman. It’s hard to say where or how many customers will remain without power for the next couple of days, but likely the last people to get back on line will be those in remote areas or in places where wind damage has made access to power lines difficult, he said.
“We’re making a lot of progress, but there’s still a long ways to go,” he said.
Workers have patched key transmission lines that feed substations in the southwest corner of the county, which was a big step in restoring power. Now the focus is shifting to individual lines and scattered outages.
Snohomish County PUD customers who are without power Monday morning are asked to call 425-783-1001 even if they already reported the outage over the weekend. As towns and neighborhoods come back on the grid, there might be isolated outages the PUD needs to track using customer reports.
A number of people shared their frustration on social media that there is no online power outage map for Snohomish County. Maps are a feature some other utilities provide on their websites to show where outages are heaviest and how close crews are to restoring power.
The Snohomish County PUD is working on an outage map and hopes to have one online next year, Neroutsos said. In the meantime, updates are shared on the PUD’s Facebook page, Twitter @SnoPUD or online at snopud.com.
The windstorm left a number of local streets dark for a full day, with many stoplights out and businesses closed. Stores that regained power Sunday hurried to clean up and restock.
At the Safeway on 41st Street in Everett, which lost power for 24 hours, aisles with frozen and refrigerated food were blocked off Sunday while employees threw out items that sat overnight and swapped in fresh supplies.
The summer storm was especially damaging because of trees that have been weakened by drought but still have leaves to catch the wind, according to the National Weather Service. Gusts of up to 61 mph were recorded at Paine Field on Saturday afternoon.
It was “a recipe for disaster,” Bolerjack said.
Multiple fire departments, including the Everett and Marysville departments, called in extra crews Saturday to keep up with the volume of weather-related calls. Emergency responders were stretched thin across the county.
Marysville firefighters received 72 calls for help during the storm, most of them wind-related, Battalion Chief Jeff Cole said. Several streets were blocked all day by fallen trees and active power lines.
Though winds had calmed, calls continued to come in to police and fire departments Sunday for fallen or falling trees and power lines.
Officials urged patience and caution. If people see downed power lines, they shouldn’t approach them. Getting too close to a live line is enough to get electrocuted even without touching it.
“Just stay safe out there,” Cole said. “That’s the main thing.”
The Coast Guard also handled at least 30 calls around Washington and Oregon during the windstorm, including one rescue of a person in the water off Camano Island, according to a news release. More than 20 vessels went adrift during the storm.
No more high winds are expected in the near future, according to the National Weather Service. Rain showers are rolling into the area and are likely to continue most of the week, with a few breezy patches but nothing like Saturday’s storm.
This weekend’s storm was uncommon for the month of August, meteorologist Johnny Burg said. People can expect to see more windstorms in the fall and winter, and Saturday was a good example of what they should be prepared for, he said.
“When Mother Nature strikes unexpectedly like this, it’s good to have stuff in your home to make it more comfortable like blankets, flashlights, batteries, water and snacks,” Neroutsos said. “You don’t want to be out looking for batteries in 60 mph wind.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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