More winter weather raises concerns for PSE power crews, customers

It’s been a difficult 48 hours for thousands throughout Western Washington with the on-again, off-again power outages. Snow and ice have been the main culprits so far, but with strong winds expected to hit parts of East King County along the Cascades, that could be a challenge again for customers and power crews.

“The wind weakening those trees, a lot of rain suturing the soil, and now the ice and snow really accumulating on the branches and making them heavier and more likely to fall on other lines,” Gerald Tracy with Puget Sound Energy said.

Thousands throughout Snoqualmie and North Bend got their power back Thursday. Some customers like Vincent Verhei say he went without power for more than 24 hours.

“Everything seems back to normal for now and hopefully these winds that we have here tonight aren’t that bad and we will all be able to move on with our lives,” Verhei said.

Even with his power back on, Verhei says the weather has been an ongoing mess for days.

“And I opened the window this morning, the power is back on but the wind is going crazy!” Verhei said.

But not everyone has gotten their power back. Diego tells KIRO 7 his family has been without power for a while, but they do have a generator on hand.

“A lot of other people complain about not having Wi-Fi, our biggest problem is that we like to cook a lot of stuff. So we got a lot of different stuff in the fridge that needs to be cold,” Diego said.

Throughout the evening, KIRO 7 crews noticed the strong winds in the evening hours. Even though most of their customers’ power has returned, PSE crews remain hard at work and ask those without power to remain patient.

“And it looks like it isn’t going away anywhere at this point. So, we are continuing to send our crews and have them ready on standby for these situations,” Tracy said.

Puget Sound Energy says when it comes to downed power lines, this is what people should do:

• Stay about 35 feet away from downed lines, call PSE or 911
• If a downed line is near water - even a small puddle - keep well away.
• Don’t drive or walk over downed power lines because if they are live, they can energize the ground and electrocute you.
• If a wire falls on your vehicle, call 911 immediately and stay inside the vehicle until help arrives. Downed power lines that come in contact with a vehicle create a dangerous situation. Do not touch the vehicle.

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