All schools remained closed in the Kent School District for the second consecutive day Thursday, Nov. 21 due to power outages and damages by fallen trees from the Nov. 19-20 windstorm.
Twenty of the district’s 44 schools were without power as of Wednesday evening, Nov. 20 when the district announced the closure. An additional seven schools had power but have unsafe trees or damage caused by trees that still need to be addressed, according to the district.
“Due to these power outages and unsafe conditions, many of our schools do not have heat or internet service,” according to a district statement. “Also, there may be unsafe roads and sidewalks due to debris and downed power lines in some areas.”
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) reported 282,613 customers remained without power in its large service area. More than 600,000 customers were without power after the windstorm struck. Many outages in Kent are on the East Hill.
PSE prioritizes restoring power to schools, medical facilities and hospitals.
“Crews have been able to restore power to 57 schools with known power outages over the last two days, with continued efforts to restore remaining schools, medical facilities and hospitals,” according to a Thursday morning statement by PSE about its coverage area. “The high winds and resulting tree damage not only downed the smaller, local power lines, but also damaged the larger transmission lines – the larger lines that bring power into communities.
“Crews are beginning to bring transmission lines back online; these lines need to be brought back into service before crews can focus on the local distribution system. Please note that as transmission comes online, there will be temporary spikes in data as those systems are energized, you may see numbers go up and down on the outage map as the process occurs.”
Road closures
The city of Kent reported Thursday morning that four roads remained closed:
• SE 208th St. between 132nd Ave SE to 140th Ave SE for trees in power lines
• Tree blocking intersection at 130th Ave SE and SE 218th Place
• 125th Ave SE and SE 216th St. for fallen tree blocking both lanes
• 127th Ave SE between SE 231st St. and SE 231st Way for fallen tree blocking roadway
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