UPDATE 2:45pm 11/16/09: It appears that Seattle City Light lineworkers restored power about 2pm Monday (Nov. 16th) to most of the 4,000 homes and businesses affected by an outage in Burien and unincorporated King County.
According to Seattle City Light’s website, the outage started about 12:40pm as the result of an equipment failure that started a utility pole fire on SW 104th Street.
The repair crew expected to restore service for the remaining 360 customers without power by 5pm.
The general boundaries of the remaining outage were SW 100th Street on the north, SW 108th Street on the south, Occidental Way SW on the east, and 10th Avenue SW on the west.
PREVIOUSLY: According to the latest “Tweet” from Seattle City Light:
Power restored to most customers in Burien, King County outage.
Remaining 360 customers should have power back by 5 p.m
A previous Tweet from SCL said:
Burien, King County outage caused by pole fire. Crews on site making repairs. Estimate to restore power by 4 p.m.
EVEN MORE PREVIOUSLY: On Monday afternoon (Nov. 16th) around 12:40pm, Seattle City Light reported that around 4,000 customers have lost power in the Burien and North Highline areas.
According to their website:
A repair crew was immediately dispatched to identify the problem and make repairs. An estimate for when power might be restored was not immediately available.
The general boundaries of the outage were SW 95th Street on the north, SW 131st Street on the south, Glendale Way S on the east, and Seola Beach Drive SW on the west.
Over 3,600 residents in the Burien/SeaTac areas lost power at 12:36pm Tuesday (June 30th) due to a brush fire at a substation that “burned cables on a telephone pole,” according to Mike Eagan of Seattle City Light.
“It seems a cable fault at a terminator on a tower at the Duwamish Substation (located at 10000 W. Marginal Way So.) caused the outage and the brush fire,” Eagan added. “A terminator is a device at the end of an insulated high-voltage cable that connects it to the distribution system.”
Power was lost in an area spanning, from the north end, South 96th Street, on the south by SW 175th Street, between 24th Ave.SW and 33rd Ave SW.
Thankfully, power was restored just over an hour later at 1:50pm, avoiding riots in the streets from disgruntled B-Town Blog Readers.
Here’s City Light’s original statements as posted on their website:
Power went out for approximately 3,671 City Light customers in Burien, SeaTac and unincorporated King County at 12:36 p.m. today.
The cause of the outage is currently unknown, but City Light crews are heading to the area to investigate. An estimated time of restoration is unknown at this time.
The area affected is bordered on the north by So. 96th St., on the south by S.W. 175th St, between 24th Ave. S.W. and 33rd Ave S.W.
Power has been fully restored for the approximately 3,671 City Light customers in Burien, SeaTac and unincorporated King County whose electricity went out at 12:36 p.m. today.
The area affected was bordered on the north by So. 96th St., on the south by S.W. 175th St, between 24th Ave. So. on the east and 33rd Ave S.W. on the west.
Numerous Burien-area residents were in the dark Sunday night, and it wasn’t just because the sun went down – Seattle City Light reports that power was lost last night around 8pm to nearly 3,900 homes.
According to Mike Eagan of Seattle City Light, there were two outages overnight, both caused by falling tree branches laden with heavy snow:
1. Boundaries – 1/4/2009 8:03:00 PM:
- North – S Barton St;
- South – SW 152nd St;
- West – Puget Sound;
- East – 10th Ave S;
- Approximate customers affected: 3899
- Cause: UNKNOWN It was a Tree
- Estimated power restoration time for the above outage: January 5, 2009 at 6 a.m. 100% power restored at 1:28am 1/5/09
2. Boundaries – 1/4/09 early am (time unknown):
- North – S. 96th
- South – SW 175th
- West – 24th SW
- East- 33rd SW
- Cause: Tree
- 95% power restored as of 9:25am 1/5/09
As of 8:30pm Friday night (Dec. 12th), Seattle City Light crews have restored power to Burien, the last large outage from today’s storm that once affected 4,000 customers.
During the afternoon, more than 8,000 customers lost power in City Light’s service area.
The range of the outage started on the north at South Director Street to SW 150th Street on the south; and on the east from 12th Ave. South to the west at 25th Ave SW.
Seattle City Light says they’re prepared for any further outages due to wind or cold, and they also offer up this warning:
In the event of a large-scale outage, residents should be ready to fend for themselves for at least three days.
One of the best steps is to assemble an emergency kit with at least three days of food and water for each person in the family and any family pets. Other items to include are a hand-crank or battery-operated flashlight and radio, fresh batteries, a survival blanket, a first aid kit, pocket tissues and hand sanitizer wipes. For a complete list of what to include, please visit http://www.govlink.org/3days3ways/.
City Light also reminds people that barbecue grills and emergency generators should never be operated indoors. Doing so could cause fatal carbon monoxide poisoning. If you lose power, dress in layers to stay warm and seal up drafty windows and doors to slow the loss of heat in your home.
Our advice:
- Stock up Saturday on groceries (for the entire week – see weather warning below) before it gets too cold and the roads become difficult
- Go to McLendon’s and get some wrap to use on your water pipes and do some serious winterizing around the house
- Make sure your car has anti-freeze
- Get ready for no school on several days this coming week (perhaps)
- Be prepared to stay home if indeed the snow and ice arrive
The Weather Service is predicting up to a week or longer of a major cold snap starting Saturday, and they’re calling it “the coldest since 1990″:
An Arctic cold front will move south through western Washington on Saturday…pulling in much colder air in its wake. The front will first arrive over the north interior early in the morning…where Fraser outflow winds will pick up on Saturday morning… bringing in very cold and very windy conditions. As the front slips further south during the day with unsettled conditions continuing…snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are possible for much of The Lowlands on Saturday afternoon and evening. With the passage of the cold front… daytime temperatures will actually fall. As temperatures fall below freezing… wet surfaces could quickly become icy… so be sure to watch your footing and avoid slip-and-fall accidents.
By Monday… temperatures will generally reach daytime highs only in the 20s with nighttime lows in the teens or lower. With the continuation of strong northeast winds over the north interior… wind chill values should drop to 10 or 15 below zero. Wind chills this low can cause frostbite to exposed skin in about 30 minutes. The north interior will be under the gun for brutally cold wind chills for much of the week ahead as cold air continues to funnel out of the Fraser valley.
Cold sub-freezing weather should continue over nearly all of western Washington through next week. In addition… a weather system on Wednesday could interact with the stubborn cold air mass to produce a renewed threat of accumulating snow nearly everywhere except perhaps the immediate coastline.
The bottom line is that western Washington should experience the coldest weather in a couple of decades during the week ahead. Please be prepared for an unusually prolonged and intense period of winter weather.
