Western Washington is grappling with the aftermath of severe windstorms, as widespread power outages leave tens of thousands in the dark. According to MyNorthwest, nearly 50,000 customers were stripped of electricity on Saturday afternoon, with gusts of wind creating turmoil throughout the region.
Specifically hit were King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties, where a cumulative total of nearly 44,000 residents were affected by the outages at one point, the utility companies' numbers reveal a widespread impact from the late winter storm and outages in Snohomish County were confirmed as storm-related damage. As the hours wore on, by 5 p.m., the number of customers without power saw a slight decrease to just over 42,000 though Seattle City Light reported over 2,000 customers still in the lurch coming 7:30 p.m. and they've declared that "an estimated time of restoration is yet to be determined" a sentiment echoed from the frustrations sprung from the bosom of this force majeure.
Unrelenting, the National Weather Service warns of thunderstorms trekking northeast through Seattle and Tacoma, as the region braces for small hail, lightning, and gusty winds, according to reports from MyNorthwest. A Wind Advisory remains in place until 8 a.m. Sunday, forewarning residents of southwest winds with gusts up to 55 mph in certain parts of the county.
Amid this atmospheric tumult, Puget Sound Energy has marked the majority of the outages as “under investigation,” indicating the scale at which these winds have ambushed the power infrastructure many residents in the region find themselves at the mercy of the service recovery efforts as stated by KATU News. It yet remains to be seen when the winds will quell and when the lights will once again hold sway in the households of Western Washington.
