Whatcom residents among 80,000 PSE customers without power Saturday after storm

Puget Sound Energy reported about 80,000 customers without power across its service area at 8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, after trees and limbs fell in an overnight wind storm.

Hard-hit areas included Whatcom, Skagit Thurston and King counties.

Whatcom County closed some roads due to downed power lines or other storm-related hazards.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Kelsey Harding tweeted at 6 a.m. “We’re seeing a lot of power outages in the region. If traffic lights are without power, treat them as a four-way stop. Still, use caution driving through intersections.”

Winds peaked late Friday, Nov. 4, and have begun to ease, according to the National Weather Service’s Seattle office. “Damaging winds should be over but it will remain windy in spots this morning, especially over the north Sound,” the agency tweeted.

“Power outages are the result of fallen trees and limbs due to strong winds and rain-saturated soils. The saturated ground can destabilize trees, making them more susceptible to collapsing. Also, many trees are stressed and weakened due to summer drought conditions,” according to the PSE website.

Crews are assessing damage and making repairs as conditions are safe, PSE said. By 11 a.m. power had been restored to almost 15,000 of the 80,000 customers without power earlier in the day.

“This boots-on-the-ground process takes time and crews may be delayed if weather conditions are unsafe. Additionally, we’re aware of the possibility of localized flooding in some parts of our service area due to the heavy rains,” PSE said.

Repair updates and restoration times are available on the PSE outage map at pse.com/outagemap.