Damaging winds lead to widespread power outages

A haymaker of a storm knocked out power to thousands of Puget Sound Energy customers, including people in Thurston County, leaving utility crews scrambling to get electricity flowing again.

The wind-fueled storm moved in on Tuesday, bringing with it heavy rainfall that battered parts of the state throughout most of the day and evening.

Puget Sound Energy crews were joined by workers from other areas in an effort to restore power to customers. The utility estimated that 5,253 customers were still impacted by outages as of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, although that figure was above 14,000 customers earlier in the day.

“Damaging winds have caused outages in our service area, with major impacts in King, Pierce and Thurston counties,” the utility said in a statement. 

“Our Emergency Coordination Center and local storm bases are open to support restoration efforts and crews are deploying with assignments as it’s safe to do so. We are also bringing in additional crews from around the area.”

The utility also said it was taking stock of the damage caused by the storm.

“Our first step in restoring power is damage assessment: getting a look at what’s been done to the system and determining the extent of repairs that are needed,” the utility said.

“The process takes time, especially if weather remains an issue. Unsafe weather conditions and the inability to access areas due to damage caused by the storm can slow these efforts.”

The rainfall led the National Weather Service to issue a Flood Watch for Thurston County, including Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater, from 10 p.m. Wednesday until 4 p.m. on Thursday.

“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

“A combination of heavy rainfall that just ended plus additional rainfall from multiple systems impacting the region this week may drive the lower Chehalis near flood stage,” the NWS added.