Windstorm knocks out power to parts of Kent; most areas restored

Published 5:27 pm Tuesday, November 16, 2010

An estimated 3,000 customers were without power in Kent after a windstorm blew through town Monday night.

Many of those customers were still without power Tuesday morning but most had power restored by Tuesday evening. An estimated 600 customers remained without power in Kent.

“Some customers could be without power into Wednesday evening but most in King County will have it back by Wednesday night,” said Roger Thompson, Puget Sound Energy spokesman.

Winds gusted up to 49 mph and blew steady at about 36 mph just before 10 p.m. Monday in the Seattle area, according to Weather Underground at wunderground.com.

More than 140,000 PSE customers were without power because of wind-related damages to power wires between the Canadian border and Olympia at the peak of the storm. About 110,000 customers had power restored by 4 p.m. Tuesday.

“The South Sound and South King County took the brunt of the damage,” Thompson said.

Approximately 12,000 customers were without power at the peak of the storm in South King County, which includes Kent, Renton, Covington, Maple Valley, Auburn, Federal Way and Enumclaw.

PSE crews were worked throughout the night Monday. The agency also called in about 30 crews from British Columbia, Oregon and Idaho to help restore service.