Area tallies millions in storm costs

Tidying up after last week’s snow and ice storms was costly for many jurisdictions in Snohomish County.

Added together, overtime, supplies and repairs added up to millions of dollars for larger jurisdictions and thousands of dollars for the smaller ones.

But the storms weren’t unexpected. Most jurisdictions said they budget for major storms. But they added that they aren’t equipped for many more big storms this winter.

At Snohomish County PUD, the storm knocked out power to 20,000 customers and cost $1.8 million in mop-up and repairs. Things went bad for the PUD when Tuesday’s snowflakes turned to freezing rain on Wednesday.

"It was a pretty damaging storm in that a lot of branches and trees came down on lines," said PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos.

He said power wasn’t restored to all customers until Saturday morning because all of the little outages took time and lots of work crews to fix.

Keeping the roads clear also proved to be expensive for the state Department of Transportation, which spent $1.3 million plowing and de-icing highways in the Puget Sound region.

Washington State Patrol was swamped with calls over the two days. Troopers responded to about 230 weather-related accidents in Snohomish County. It didn’t appear that the flood of calls created any excess costs, according to spokesman trooper Lance Ramsay.

"We followed the weather forecast closely and adjusted schedules to have more troopers available in the morning hours," he said. "It was the right decision. We had enough people to cover all the accidents."

It could have been worse, however. Traffic volumes were down 40 percent on Jan. 6 and 7.

A big part of keeping storm costs at a minimum is staying prepared. When public works crews see storm clouds gathering, they know it’s time to give their equipment a test run. Last week was the biggest workout Everett sanders and plows have had in years.

"It doesn’t happen an awful lot, but when it does you’ve got to be prepared — to make sure all sanders are operating well in advance of the storm," said Tom Thetford, Everett’s director of utilities. "They’re sitting all year. And with salt and sand in those sanders, it’s pretty hard on them."

Here’s a sampling of what last week’s storm cost the region.

Everett: When all is added up, the bill will come to about $50,000. Two-thirds of that went for labor costs, benefits and overtime pay for city crews to work the plows and sanders around the clock, Thetford said.

In two days, the city sprinkled roads with more than $6,000 worth of de-icer and sand. The city also spent about $10,000 running its 10 pieces of snow equipment 24 hours a day.

Marysville: Crews spread about 16 loads of sand and de-icer on the city’s major streets, city spokesman Doug Buell said. The city shut down two major streets that had steep hills.

Mountlake Terrace: Officials estimate the snowstorm cost $3,000, with the city paying six employees overtime to respond to weather-related incidents. There were also some costs related to sanding and de-icing roads.

Mukilteo: Work crews worked 12-hour shifts plowing and spreading sand and de-icer on city streets, which meant roads were being cleared 24 hours a day during the storms, city administrator Rich Leahy said.

Leahy didn’t have a cost estimate but said the city budgets for several major storms each year.

Lake Stevens: The storm caused no major damage in Lake Stevens, but the city spent about $1,300 on overtime and sanding.

Monroe: Utility manager Eric Durpos said he hasn’t yet figured out how much the storms will cost the city, but said rain and power outages created unexpected hazards.

"I wouldn’t consider it a disaster, by any means," he said, adding that the damage costs are unlikely to go beyond the city’s regular budget for storms. "I think it’s under control."

Snohomish: The city spent about $2,000 on the storm — $400 in overtime, $600 on sanding and $1,000 on de-icing, said Dan Takasugi, the city’s public works director.

"We didn’t have a real serious problem," he said.

Snohomish County: Peter Hahn, director of Snohomish County Public Works, said he was still waiting for crew cards to come in to tally up the total hours worked and the actual cleanup costs.

Right now, the estimates are that the storm cost the county $150,000 to $200,000. Those costs include labor, materials and equipment rental.

"We’ll know more in about a week," he said.

Arlington: The storm didn’t give Arlington’s one plow and one sander much of a problem, said John Pederson, the city’s operations manager for the general services and maintenance department.