Puget Sound Energy customers across western Washington are still without power days after a bomb cyclone hit the region, uprooting trees and downing power lines.
In a letter to customers, PSE compared Tuesday night’s storm to a hurricane that “did unprecedented damage to our high-voltage transmission system.”
As of Friday morning, more than 166,000 PSE customers were still without power, mainly in the Seattle-metro area. Most PSE customers in Bellingham and Sudden Valley have had power restored, according to the PSE outage map.
Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement Thursday that state agencies are closely monitoring the storm’s impacts and that it may take weeks to determine the dollar amount of damages.
“Once local governments are able to assess damages, we’ll know whether we will be able to seek federal assistance,” Inslee said.
Since Wednesday, PSE has restored 34 substations that serve around 5,000 customers each. The utility company also has 143 lines crews out working, 3.5 times more than usual, as it has brought in line crews from other utility companies in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California, the letter said. About 70 tree crews have also been removing debris.
PSE hopes to have power restored to most customers by noon on Saturday.
In Sudden Valley, the South Whatcom Fire Authority is cleaning debris and is working with the Sudden Valley Community Association to clean up community roadways.
Lake Whatcom Blvd from Cain Lake to Lake Louise Rd is closed for the foreseeable future as Whatcom Public Work crews remove downed trees. Mosquito Lake Road from Mt Baker Highway to 5015 Mosquito Lake Road and from Highway 9 to 2372 Mosquito Lake Road are also closed for cleanup.
Six families in Sudden Valley are without homes because of the level of damage their houses sustained in the storm. Another 16 homes were also damaged.
A wind advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service for Whatcom County between Friday through 4 a.m. Saturday. Wind gusts could be up to 50 mph.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
