How many days will the power be out in western WA? Here's what we know
Families deal with days of power outages after bomb cyclone
Over 200,000 people are still without power two days after a powerful windstorm hit western Washington on Tuesday.
Editor's note: For the latest information, view our PSE, Seattle City Light and Snohomish PUD real-time updates.
Nearly half a million people in western Washington woke up without power after a powerful bomb cyclone swept through the area Tuesday night. Crews are now on the ground and in the air, working tirelessly to restore power.
PSE announced Thursday that they are continuing to monitor the active weather forecast for the Pacific Northwest, and crews are ready to respond if additional power outages happen. Additional crews from different utilities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia have responded to help.
Keep reading for PSE’s answers to commonly asked questions about the recent power outages.
Photo: PSE Nov. 21, 2024
Thursday, Nov. 21 update
PSE sent a letter to its customers on Thursday afternoon, giving an update on the progress it had made since Wednesday night, and what it's doing now to get the lights back on. The letter also addressed the windy weather forecast for the region Friday and the impacts it may cause.
PSE talks power outages due to WA bomb cyclone: Thursday update
Thousands of people in western Washington are still without power after Tuesday night's bomb cyclone storm. Melanie Coon with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) joins Good Day Seattle with a Thursday update.
We interviewed Melanie Coon with PSE again on Thursday for an update on the progress of restoring power to Washingtonians.
Crews have restored 57 out of the 150 schools that lost power over the last two days, and they are continuing to prioritize restoring power to remaining schools, medical facilities and hospitals.
"Other things that are happening is we closed our storm bases – those are the operations in the geographic areas that we have," said Melanie Coon with PSE. "We closed those in Pierce County and Thurston County. What that means is, the crews from those areas are going to move over to those harder hit areas, so that speeds things up considerably."
More helicopters have been dispatched to assess damage, which will help determine the highest priority areas.
The FOX 13 Digital Team has included additional elements from Thursday's interview in the commonly asked questions below, which include "When is the power going to turn back on?"
Wednesday, Nov. 20 update
Puget Sound Energy talks power outages due to WA bomb cyclone
This morning on Good Day Seattle we are joined by Melanie Coon with Puget Sound Energy after nearly half a million people in western Washington had their power knocked out by devastating winds caused by a bomb cyclone.
During Good Day Seattle’s Weather Alert Day coverage on Wednesday, we interviewed Melanie Coon with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) to learn more about power companies' approaches to such daunting tasks and how soon they will be able to restore power to the thousands still in the dark. At 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, more than 390,000 PSE customers were without power. The number was significantly higher overnight; however, about 120,000 PSE customers had their power restored by the time of the live interview.
When is the power going to turn back on in WA?
According to PSE's Thursday update, crews are predicting that the power will be restored for everyone in the region by the end of the day on Saturday. Not all areas will have to wait until Saturday. PSE is estimating that communities in Pierce and Thurston Counties will have their power restored by midnight tonight. The power is expected to be restored for Whatcom, Skagit, Island and Kitsap Counties by 6 p.m. on Friday.
Editor's note: This article is no longer being updated. FOX 13 Seattle has created new articles that focus on each major western Washington power company individually. Be sure to check out Friday updates from PSE, Seattle City Light and Snohomish PUD.
"We understand the stress and disruption that outages can cause for you and your family and that it is especially challenging on cold days and nights. We continue our around-the-clock work to restore power due to Tuesday’s damaging windstorm." - PSE
The following statement from PSE came from a live interview that aired Wednesday, Nov. 20:
"People should be expecting multiple day outages in some areas," said Melanie Coon with PSE. "We have brought in extra crews. We are hitting this hard with crews not only from here, but from other places. We have a lot of resources we can pull from, but our main priority is just figuring out what is the extent of the damage, how can we go about repairing it and doing it as fast as possible."
PSE also has an app called "myPSE" where you can access the company’s live outage map and sign up for text alerts that will give you a better idea of when the power will be restored.
Will there be extra crews to help restore WA power outages?
On Thursday at around 4:00 a.m., PSE announced they had brought in crews from other utilities from Washington, British Columbia, Idaho and Oregon. This effort will hopefully speed up the power restoration process. Hundreds of logistical team members with PSE are assisting these additional crews.
At the time of Wednesday's live interview, PSE had recently launched a helicopter to evaluate the damage and decide if more personnel were necessary to help. Here's what Melanie Coon with PSE said at the time.
"We have our contractor crews, we have our own first responders—those are the people who go out and assess the damage," said Melanie Coon with PSE. "We get crews from other jurisdictions, maybe eastern Washington. Depending on the extent, I’m sure they can come from other states. There’s agreements that we work with."
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Hurricane-force wind gusts recorded in western WA during bomb cyclone
A look at the record-breaking wind speeds recorded during Tuesday's bomb cyclone:
Are there going to be more power outages when another windstorm hits WA on Friday?
"We're watching this closely," said Melanie Coon with PSE during Thursday's live interview on Good Day Seattle. "The trees now have been stressed – we had hurricane conditions overnight on Tuesday, so that really took a lot out of the trees. The wind is not going to be as strong, thankfully, but the trees themselves have been through the ringer, and we are probably expecting more downed trees and more power outages."
Warming centers near me in WA
PSE is asking anyone who needs shelter or a warm place to stay to dial 211. That number will help people find nearby warming centers and community support.
How do energy companies respond to widespread power outages in WA?
"What we are doing right now is we are really focusing on damage assessment," said Melanie Coon with PSE. "We have helicopters in the air—they’re going to fly the transmission lines. That will give us a good picture of where that major damage is. A transmission line handles a lot of power for a lot of people. We also have ground crews that have been on the ground overnight, working around the clock. Once we have those assessments, we understand what the challenge is, that’s going to give us the ability to go 'okay, these are our hardest hit areas, this is where we are going to spend the most time to get those people back up'. Then there are areas that need to be an actual pole replacement or more major work, so that helps us determine our estimated time of restoration – you’ll hear us call them 'ETRs'."
Photo: PSE Nov. 21, 2024
Were power companies prepared for this bomb cyclone in WA?
"What’s really important in this storm is we had some really great weather information, and we started preparing in advance," said Melanie Coon with PSE. "We started staging crews all over our service area to where we didn’t wait for the damage to happen to get those crews mobilized. They were already in place and ready to go, so that made a huge difference."
What should I do if I see a downed power line in WA?
"If you see a downed powerline, you need to stay 25-30 feet away—I think that’s a rule of thumb," said Melanie Coon with PSE. "If you do see one, dial 911. If you’re in your car and a powerline hits your car, stay in your vehicle and call 911. Do not get out of your vehicle, you don’t know if that line is energized. Safety first."
Featured
How long is too long to keep food in a fridge when the power goes out?
Here is what you need to know about keeping food safe to eat in your fridge and freezer during a power outage.
Who to call when your power goes out?
If your power goes out, here's how to check the status of the outage and who to call to report an outage.
- Puget Sound Energy: View and report outages. Call 1-888-225-5773.
- Seattle City Light: View and report outages. Call 206-684-3000.
- Tacoma Public Utilities: View and report outages. Call 253-502-8602.
- Clallam County PUD: View outage map. Call 360-452-9771 or 800-542-7859.
- Jefferson PUD: View and report outages. Call 360-385-5800.
- Mason County PUD #1. Call 360-877-5249.
- Mason PUD #3: Outage map - Report an outage. Call 360-426-8255.
- Pacific Power: Report an outage. Call 877-508-5088.
- Peninsula Light Co.: Report an outage and view outage map. Call 877-853-1388.
- Snohomish County PUD: Outage map. Call 425-783-1001.
- San Juan County. Outage map.
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