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Windstorm might have been stronger than 1993 blow

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, December 14, 2006

By Herald staff

The number of homes and businesses in Snohomish County still without electricity after a fierce windstorm was whittled down to 67,000 by early Friday afternoon. At the peak of the storm, 120,000 homes in the county and on Camano Island were without power.

The majority of the remaining outages are in the southeast portion of Snohomish County, the Snohomish County PUD reported. A total of 60 crews were in the field today trying to restore power service.

The winds were still strong on northwest Whidbey Island during the midmorning, but in Snohomish County and the rest of the Puget Sound region emergency officials had switched to clean up mode.

At Paine Field in south Everett, the top gust was 76 mph at 10:47 p.m. Thursday, said Bruce Goetz, the airport’s superintendent of operations.

“This storm was a pretty strong one,” said Johnny Burg, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “It was probably a little stronger than the Inauguration Day Storm.”

SeaTac International Airport reported wind gusts of up to 69 mph, breaking the record wind speed of 64 mph set in January 1993, when President Clinton was inaugurated.

The City of Everett has begun collecting information about storm damage from people and businesses within the city limits. Damage should be reported to the City of Everett office of Emergency Management by calling: 425-257-7968 during regular business hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until Dec. 31, 2006.

Whidbey Island remains without power. Emergency crews are anticipating that it could be out for up to five days, Island County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Smith said.

West Beach Road remained closed because of water over the road.

Emergency shelters are being set up at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1508 Highway 525, the Coupeville Recreation Hall, 901 NW Alexander Street and the Oak Harbor Senior Center, 51 SE Jerome St.

There is limited bus transportation on Whidbey Island.

No serious injuries have been reported or major damage, Smith said.

“People are of a pioneering nature here. I think we were probably better prepared this time,” Smith said.

Temperatures are expected to cool over the weekend, with a mix of rain of snow possible, Burg said.

Heavy rain fell on south Snohomish County and King County right before the heavy wind picked up Thursday night, causing urban flooding at many locations.

Mountain locations got one to two feet of snow and up to three feet of snow at the highest elevations, Burg said.

Strong winds approaching 100 mph at pass locations caused the weather service to issue a blizzard warning during the storm.

State emergency officials on Friday urged people to:

  • Stay off the telephone except for critical phone calls. Remember a FAX or a computer may also use a telephone line and its use may affect your ability to get immediate help in a life-threatening emergency.

  • Do not call 9-1-1 unless in need of an emergency response from police, fire or emergency medical personnel.

  • If you experience other types of problems not related to these emergency services, call the appropriate telephone number for those services.

  • Do not call 9-1-1 unnecessarily. 9-1-1 lines must be kept open for people who have a true emergency.

  • If you pick up your telephone to make a call and do not hear dial tone, do not immediately hang up. In some cases, simply waiting a few seconds will result in a dial tone.

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