Thousands still without power in Snohomish County after bomb cyclone

LAKE STEVENS — A hard hat shielded Zeke Schellberg from heavy rain as he watched electrical crews from Snohomish and Okanogan counties repair lines east of Lake Stevens.

Needless to say, it’s been a busy week.

After Tuesday’s bomb cyclone, under 10,000 customers of the Snohomish County Public Utility District were still without electricity as of 4:40 p.m. Friday — mostly near Lake Bosworth, Lake Stevens and Snohomish. At the storm’s peak, 135,000 people were without power.

Many remaining outages involve extensive repairs to multiple power poles, or require hiking into remote areas, the PUD said.

On Friday, gusts from another storm system reached 40 mph in Everett, according to the National Weather Service. At Arlington Municipal Airport, gusts reached 49 mph Tuesday.

Schellberg, an engineer for Snohomish PUD for 13 years, said the utility has recruited 19 crews from utilities across the state. Each crew typically has five people, boosting the local workforce by almost 100.

The company pairs local crews with outside units to make sure they have equipment and know where to go, Schellberg said. Tuesday’s storm is one of the five most intense weather events he’s witnessed, Schellberg said.

“One of the dangers of these storm scenarios is people are trying to move tree debris or open roads and they don’t know if it’s safe or not,” he said, cautioning people to be aware of downed power lines.

Electricity flows from high to low potential, like water flowing down a hill. If there’s no change in potential, electrons won’t flow. No electricity is possible, so it becomes like water pooling in a lake.

Humans are better conductors than tree branches or rocks. A misstep could create a situation where someone’s body creates a shortcut for electricity to find the ground faster than if electrons went an alternate route.

“People walking around wires could have one foot in a different potential zone than another,” Schellberg said. “Livestock are vulnerable, too.”

Accidents can also happen when people set up their generator wrong. It’s important people don’t plug generators into their house’s electric system unless it has an installed transfer switch, the PUD cautioned. If there’s no switch, the generator’s electricity can feed back onto the grid and hurt lineworkers.

Libraries have been a crucial resource for people without power.

At the Lake Stevens library, staff pulled extra chairs and desks to accommodate people in the small space.

“There were 270 people here yesterday,” said library manager Antoinette Morales-Tanner.

She added she had done a dozen orientations for the library’s self-service pilot program. The program allows patrons to use the library from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., every day, including holidays, increasing access to printing services or Wi-Fi.

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Zeke Schellberg’s last name.

Eliza Aronson: 425-339-3434; eliza.aronson@heraldnet.com; X: @ElizaAronson. Eliza’s stories are supported by the Herald’s Environmental and Climate Reporting Fund.