EVERETT — Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers issued an emergency proclamation Tuesday following last week’s bomb cyclone.
The proclamation “directs all applicable county departments to take actions deemed necessary to mitigate the storm’s impacts to private property and publicly owned infrastructure.”
“We know this powerful storm has disrupted the lives of many Snohomish County residents,” county Emergency Management Director Lucia Schmit said in a press release. “First responders and recovery teams have been working around the clock to keep people safe, restore electrical service and reopen roads. Today’s proclamation is another important step toward helping people through the challenge.”
Two people died in the storm. One woman, Deborah O’Connor, 65, died of compressional asphyxia and blunt force injuries after a large tree fell on an encampment off Alderwood Mall Parkway. Another woman died in Bellevue.
In another incident, a tree nearly impaled an Amtrak engineer near Silvana.
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‘It almost killed me’: Bomb cyclone wreaks havoc in Snohomish CountyNov 20, 2024
At its peak, about 135,000 residents across Snohomish County and Camano Island lost power. Crews from across Washington helped the Snohomish County Public Utility District restore power.
Over 650 crew members helped in the recovery. It took about a week to address just about all the power outages caused by the storm. On Tuesday afternoon, just 15 PUD customers were experiencing outages.
The PUD reported the storm broke over 130 telephone poles, destroyed 106 transformers and damaged 33 miles of wire.
Libraries across Snohomish County reported increase usage, especially in Lake Stevens, as residents tried to find places with power and WiFi. The county’s Department of Emergency Management is working with partner agencies to document damage. It’s also planning on having online and in-person damage reporting options to apply for relief funds.
“These weather events have impacts long after the gusts are over,” Somers said in a press release.
The county is asking residents to gather information ahead of the call for damage reporting. That includes:
• Address of damaged property (Note: Only primary residences qualify. No outbuildings);
• Primary cause of damage;
• County assessed value of the structure;
• Estimated value of personal property or contents lost;
• Brief description of impacts to structure or land and any unmet needs; and
• Whether the property has homeowners, renters or business insurance.
If it is safe, photograph the damage and prepare to share the images, the county added.
Somers also issued an emergency proclamation after extensive flooding in north Snohomish County last December.
Jordan Hansen: 425-339-3046; jordan.hansen@heraldnet.com; X: @jordyhansen.
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