Thousands of customers were still without power after intense overnight winds toppled power lines and trees, causing road closures across Western Washington Wednesday.
As of 9 p.m. Thursday there were approximately 30,000 Puget Sound Energy customers still without power. Power had been restored to more than 405,000 since the beginning of the storm.
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Puget Sound Energy said some customers might have outages for days due to the severity of the impact on the system.
Roads were closed throughout the region, including on Deception Pass Bridge. State troopers said high winds were a factor in knocking over a truck, causing it to hang partially off the bridge. The driver made it out safely. SR 20 was closed while crews tried to remove the semi. It has since reopened.
Deception Pass Bridge is now back open. https://t.co/o2LdX6giwq
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) January 13, 2021
A tree came down on a house in the 600 block of South Mason Avenue Tacoma overnight Wednesday, shearing off nearly a quarter of the home. A woman was trapped inside. A Tacoma fire technical rescue team was able to rescue the victim from her bedroom.
Tree comes down in Tacoma & hits a house forcing @TacomaFire to mount a rescue & free a trapped resident - separate tree also blocking the road South Mason Ave - live 5:30AM & beyond @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/PW1diYnmMK
— Ranji Sinha (@RanjiKIRO7) January 13, 2021
9:20 PM UPDATE: Approx. 1,100 customers remain without power. Crews continue restoration efforts. You can track progress online at https://t.co/DsH127ACkw
— Tacoma Public Utilities (@MyTPU) January 15, 2021
In Seattle, East Marginal Way South had closed at Myrtle due to power lines in the road.
REMINDER: East Marginal Way S between 16th Ave S & S Ellis St is fully blocked in both directions. Use alternate routes. pic.twitter.com/MIdt32kGAg
— SDOT Traffic (@SDOTtraffic) January 13, 2021
Up in the North Sound, I-5 north of Lynnwood was completely shut between 164th Street and 128th Street for about 90 minutes after power lines came down just after 12 a.m. Wednesday.
Several roads in Snohomish County were blocked, including Norman Road in Stanwood and 236th Northeast in Arlington, the sheriff’s office said.
And Snohomish County PUD tweeted at 6 p.m. Thursday that the reason for prolonged outages was due to fallen trees that made it difficult for crews to access the issues.
One of the reasons for this prolonged outage is access issues. With so many fallen trees, it’s a struggle to even reach the areas that need repair. It takes time & energy to clear the trees so our vehicles can access hard hit areas. Despite it all, we’re making steady progress! pic.twitter.com/dMk7EWcJ8Z
— Snohomish County PUD (@SnoPUD) January 15, 2021
In Whatcom County, several trees came down at Western Washington University in Bellingham Tuesday night. They caused damage at a residence hall and one person suffered minor injuries.
There were multiple wind gusts over 50 mph in the Seattle area between midnight and 1:15 a.m. Wednesday. Gusts of 70 mph were recorded in Ferndale, and Federal Way saw gusts of 61 mph.
Meteorologist Nick Allard had said Wednesday morning that was officially the wettest start to January in Seattle on record. Combined with high winds, the rainfall contributed to trees toppling by creating saturated ground.
Cox Media Group
