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More than 95% of Puget Sound Energy customers have had their energy restored after the weekend’s storm, the utility said, but a little under 6,000 people were still without power as of Monday evening.
Crews were making steady progress, though. That figure was closer to 17,000 when the day began. Workers will continue addressing the remaining outages — which are harder-to-reach or more complex — through Tuesday.
We understand how stressful and frustrating it is to be without power," said Andrew Padula, a spokesperson for Puget Sound Energy. "We’ll continue to work around the clock."
At the storm's peak, over 310,000 people lost power around the Puget Sound region, PSE reported Monday.
Transmission lines were damaged by high winds, falling trees and saturated grounds as heavy rain fell, according to PSE. Most of the damage was in south King, Pierce and Thurston counties.
Seattle was also hit, but to a lesser degree. At the peak, there were 34,000 customers without power in the city. That's now down to around 100. Those are hopefully going to be resolved by Tuesday, according to Seattle City Light.
This wasn't Washington's hardest storm even in recent history (see: the Bomb Cyclone of 2024), but given the time of year, the weight of wet leaves on trees made them more vulnerable to snapping under stress.
"It happens every year, and it’s always a surprise when they [windstorms] choose to pop up, Jenn Strang, a spokesperson for Seattle City Light.
Restoration gets delayed when conditions are unsafe for workers to go out, both utility companies said. In Seattle, employees had to wait until winds calmed down until they could deploy bucket trucks to reach power lines. And in suburban areas, debris has to be cleared first before some areas can actually be restored.
A few substations, which deliver power into cities, were also damaged, Padula said. Before crews show up in a neighborhood, they have to address that damage.
There were 83 PSE powerline crews and dozens of damage assessment teams working throughout King, Kitsap, Pierce and Thurston counties, PSE reported Monday.
Customers in King and Kitsap counties can expect to have their power restored by the end of the day Monday. Those in North Bend and Pierce County can expect power back by the end of Tuesday.
Outages in the Cascade foothills could extend into Wednesday because of extensive damage in that area. The same goes for Thurston County, where people might not see power restored until late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
Customers can check their restoration estimations on PSE's outage webpage.
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