West Seattle Weather Watch, afternoon/evening update: Wind, rain, downed trees, more

(Our morning storm coverage is here)

(Added 2:30 pm: Tree down in Junction; photo courtesy Marty Sweetman)
1:25 PM: We’re launching afternoon storm coverage now, with widespread reports of power flickers – we were in a Junction business where it flickered twice a few minutes ago, and the wind is gusty out of the south here too. More to come.

(Added 2:40 pm: Nickelsville resident JS, building a walkway; WSB photo by Nick Adams)
1:32 PM UPDATE: We’ve received a request for help from Nickelsville via intermediaries – they need gasoline to power generators to pump out floodwaters at the camp (West Marginal and Highland Park Way). If you can help, just take some down.

1:36 PM UPDATE: Serious wave action south of Alki Point, as is usual with wind out of the southwest. We checked on the flickers – there is NO larger outage anywhere, so far. Just widespread flickers. Just in case it does go out later, be sure you have what you need nearby – charge your phone, have batteries for whatever needs batteries, keep a flashlight handy, etc.

1:52 PM UPDATE: Just got back to WSB HQ in Upper Fauntleroy for the first time in an hour or so – we’re out of power here. City Light map says about 150 customers (homes/businesses).

(Added 2:30 pm: Tree down on 18th near Sanislo Elementary; photo courtesy Cary Swain Seely)
2:25 PM UPDATE: There is some good news – the rain stopped. For now. But there are scattered reports of trees down – saw one along Fauntleroy in Fairmount Springs; Kevin sent word of one in Endolyne; no major road blockages reported, though. (Update – see the photo added above from 18th SW – that may be causing trouble.) City Light, meantime, says it doesn’t know yet what’s to blame for the outage in Upper Fauntleroy/Gatewood.

(Added 2:40 pm: Tree down at 45th and Wildwood in Fauntleroy)
2:49 PM: Scott reports via Twitter that Admiral is closed between 58th and 59th because of a power pole that looks to be in danger of falling.

3:04 PM UPDATE: Cami says it’s actually closed at 57th. We’ll have a crew in the area shortly. Also via comments, Cait says Webster is closed in the Delridge vicinity. THANK YOU to everyone continuing to share information and photos.

3:14 PM UPDATE: Photojournalist Nick Adams, out on storm coverage for WSB today, is at 58th/Admiral with the power-pole problem and says traffic is now open again, one lane each way.

(added later) This photo courtesy of Don Brubeck shows the pole while it was leaning:

NEW traffic problem that might affect some people headed toward West Seattle – southbound Battery Street Tunnel is closed, apparently because of a crash, per SDOT.

3:37 PM UPDATE: City Light map shows the Gatewood/Upper Fauntleroy outage over – we’re working away from HQ right now so can’t verify. Couple other scattered, very small outages in spots around West Seattle. (Few minutes later) Battery Street Tunnel southbound now OPEN again, per WSDOT. Meantime, some bus reroutes out there – just got one from Metro re: Route 128 routed off 16th between Henderson and Cambridge.

4:23 PM UPDATE: No new problems reported lately. But still give yourself extra time to get home. Any break in the weather is just temporary, the forecasters say. And take note this is already the rainiest November 19th on record.

5:27 PM UPDATE: Got e-mail saying that the Admiral exit from the West Seattle Bridge has a major puddle/pond, so avoid if you can. Meantime, the rain comes and goes – raining hard again about 20 minutes ago, not so bad right now, but still lots of water everywhere. P.S. If you’re on a bus and have some time, here’s a new West Seattle-specific survey from Metro, explained and linked here.

43 Replies to "West Seattle Weather Watch, afternoon/evening update: Wind, rain, downed trees, more"

  • Photon November 19, 2012 (1:28 pm)

    Having flickers here in Delridge. The west side of 16th (main drag of White Center) was in the dark when we went by a couple of hours ago.

  • Mich November 19, 2012 (1:29 pm)

    Our power (in Gatewood) went out a few minutes ago – for about 30 seconds.

  • Mark Ahlness November 19, 2012 (1:30 pm)

    Power went out for about 30 sec here in Gatewood about 1:20

  • Kent November 19, 2012 (1:33 pm)

    Yep, flickering a lot in the Admiral District. Moments ago the power went off for a few seconds and then came back on. Can’t say I’ve seen that. I thought we were done for the day.

  • AC November 19, 2012 (1:33 pm)

    Our power is out in the Gatewood nieghborhood. It flickered about 10 times then went out…

    AC

  • Highline Neighborhood House November 19, 2012 (1:36 pm)

    Our power went out in Highline Neighborhood House for about 30 seconds. Because we have a lot of solar energy our power seems to have gone back up while the neighborhood looks dark. I am not seeing lights in any of the residential spaces or even street lights.

    Could be flickering, but I cannot tell if it’s a general outage.

  • Chicaboo November 19, 2012 (1:38 pm)

    Power went out for like 30 seconds on delridge by willow st. And still flickering. With all these trees it sounds like a hurricane outside.

  • Natalee November 19, 2012 (1:46 pm)

    Power out on California ave near thistle

  • Bsmomma November 19, 2012 (1:48 pm)

    Down at Alki (the rocky beach) watching some awesome wave action! My car is really rocking from the wind!

  • Amy B November 19, 2012 (1:48 pm)

    Flickering about a half hour ago here at 16th & Holden. Lots of wind, but seems to be calming a tiny bit. Was out earlier (this morning) going down 16th. Passed the house where the fire was, crews still there. Also LOTS & LOTS of water on the road, please drive slowly people!

  • Thistle and California November 19, 2012 (1:54 pm)

    Big boom, rapid power surges, and now no power in neighborhood.

  • moomoo November 19, 2012 (1:57 pm)

    My daughter just text’ed me to say power out at Chief Sealth High School

  • Jeremy November 19, 2012 (2:14 pm)

    Power out since about 1:30 on 40th block of SW Thistle ST, south side
    of street.

  • Ryan B November 19, 2012 (2:23 pm)

    be careful exiting West seattle bridge onto admiral. There is/was a small lake there when i drove through earlier.

  • chris r November 19, 2012 (2:26 pm)

    power flicker in admiral

  • sam-c November 19, 2012 (2:47 pm)

    damn! I jinxed myself on the earlier morning report when i said ‘stay up trees’. one of our 60′ alders blew down (well, 2/3rds of it- now we have a nice snag). damn I hate alders. (any-one need some soggy firewood…?)

  • iggy November 19, 2012 (2:50 pm)

    A friend thinks the door malfunction on the C Line is weather related because of the wind. I posted this on morning traffic page, but am posting here again as a reminder to be extra careful on the C in bad weather.
    ———————————————
    Just got back on the C from Alaska Junction (1:50 pm). I used the middle door to board, and it started to close on me. Then it opened. The lady behind me started to climb up and the door started to close on her. Her packages fell in the gutter between the curb and the bus. She had to stand in the gutter, wedged between the bus and the curb to pick everything up. I went up to tell the driver that there was a safety situation. I told him that the door was malfunctioning and that a lady was in an unsafe position trying to pick up her things and that he should not close the door or move the bus until she was safely onboard. The driver didn’t seem to care less. He obviously could not see what was happening at the middle door. Do they not have cameras for the drivers to see what is going on. If I hadn’t come forward, he could have slammed the door on that poor woman and taken off and she could have been killed or seriously injured, since she was wedged between the bus and the curb.
    A big safety issue is that the middle and rear doors often have a big gap between the bus and the curb, and the bus is quite high up. Hard for older and less nimble to negotiate. It is an accident waiting to happen, especially since the drivers seem oblivious.
    It also was scary that the heavy doors kept wanting to close on people. I was whacked pretty good before it re-opened. I’m assumimg it was because of the wind, but it really is a safety issue.

  • Cami November 19, 2012 (2:59 pm)

    Admiral is closed at 57th — leaning power pole on south side of the street. Closed from 57th west to 59th!!!

  • Cait November 19, 2012 (3:01 pm)

    East Webster (windy street that connects Delridge to Holden toward Highland Park) is closed.

    • WSB November 19, 2012 (3:03 pm)

      Tree down, do you know? Thanks, Cait! Cami – I will update. I think we had it at 58th.

  • Amy November 19, 2012 (3:14 pm)

    Blinking reds at 16th and Holden when I went through about 30 minutes ago. Had to make a detour to get to the western segment of Holden because police cars were blocking 20th and 21st Aves (the hairpin turn connecting Delridge to the eastern part of Holden – hope that makes sense). I’m guessing there’s a downed tree (or more). Had a power outage at home per the microwave. A rather large tree in my neighbors’ planting strip broke and fell on an SUV and is almost completely blocking the street. This is on the 7100 block of 32nd Ave in Sunrise Heights. Stay safe out there, everyone!

  • Cami November 19, 2012 (3:21 pm)

    Helicopter hovering at Alki… looking towards Admiral Way.

  • Cami November 19, 2012 (3:21 pm)

    It was a leaning power pole!!!

    • WSB November 19, 2012 (3:24 pm)

      I’m sure it’s TV, coming over for look at power pole, which is being fixed. Sorry, my question was for the other person re: Webster, which we hadn’t previously heard of. Crazy out there! Glad to have not heard of any injury incidents in our area so far …

  • AN November 19, 2012 (3:28 pm)

    That is so horrible to see Nickelsville flooded like that! My heart breaks seeing that.

  • sheeba November 19, 2012 (3:41 pm)

    Lake Nickelsville?

  • Andrew Edmond November 19, 2012 (3:51 pm)

    Pretty stormy out heading to Vashon Today!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8cWbzIoMqs&feature=youtu.be

  • coffee November 19, 2012 (4:09 pm)

    Iggy, call King County Ex office and tell them you are going to file a report for potential physical body injury, that will get them to talk to the driver and look into the door issue. Seems its the only way something gets attention any longer!

  • WTF November 19, 2012 (4:40 pm)

    YIKES!

  • kayo November 19, 2012 (5:26 pm)

    Warning to those going eastbound down SW Genesee from Avalon to Delridge. There is a very large and difficult to see puddle at the bottom of the hill (east side of “dip”) that takes up the entire eastbound lane. It is sudden and unexpected in the dark and fairly deep. Be careful out there!

  • AMDG November 19, 2012 (5:37 pm)

    Southbound 99 traffic worse than usual, but not much. Slowdown starts around Battery St tunnel.

  • Ambc November 19, 2012 (5:43 pm)

    Century Link internet is out in Highland Park, 16th and Henderson. They confirm it’s an equipment problem.

  • here November 19, 2012 (5:44 pm)

    Thank you iggy for doing that, that was me and my groceries. The driver did not seem to think it was an issue, neither did Metro when I called them. I am getting more disappointed with Metro by the day.

  • Ambc November 19, 2012 (5:46 pm)

    Century Link outage in Highland Park, 16th & Henderson. They confirm it’s an equipment problem.

  • iggy November 19, 2012 (5:55 pm)

    Here – I was really upset at your distress. Amazing that Metro doesn’t think it’s an issue. I was shocked that the driver didn’t care that a passenger was in a precarious situation because of a design/safety issue directly attributable to Metro. I clearly and specifically told him there was a safety incident unfolding at the middle door and described what it was. To his credit he did wait for me to tell him that you were on the bus and seated, but his lack of human concern was a bit unnerving. I’ve contacted Metro, but was put on hold and, yes, they don’t seem to care. And this is not the first time I and others have observed that the drivers seem to have no visibility of what is happening further back in the bus. On the regular buses, even the articulated ones, the drivers can clearly see back door and passengers in back of the bus.
    What I would like is for Metro to have better customer relations/safety training for its drivers on the C Line. The other buses continue to be fine in my experience.

  • Seattle METRO Bus rider since 1994 November 19, 2012 (5:57 pm)

    Iggy is right . . . “A big safety issue is that the middle and rear doors often have a big gap between the bus and the curb, and the bus is quite high up. Hard for older and less nimble to negotiate.” Metro has an unwritten rule that ALL Older people or the less nimble must use the FRONT DOOR by the driver only. Use the middle or back door at your own risk. I can not tell you how many times I have been on the bus in bad weather when the Metro driver shut the doors on someone’s things or the person them self. The driver probably does care, but really has a lot on their mind. They have to watch traffic and all the people coming and going . . . . I think it gets to be a bit much for them to handle if the weather gets really bad on top of it all.

  • coffee November 19, 2012 (6:04 pm)

    It would be super helpful, if people could attempt to clear out the street drains, yes, I know its cold and wet, but think of how you are helping your fellow neighbors…. Many GIANORMOUS puddles. And, good lord people slow down! And turn your lights on!

  • Bsmomma November 19, 2012 (6:28 pm)

    Pretty big puddle on Admiral on the little overpass just past Starbucks in the right lane. Huge “Thank You” to the lovely person who passed me and completely ingulfed my car in water!! Scared the you know what out of me!! Good thing I had my window down (to help my window fog)!! So dangerous!! And a real Thank You to the gentleman who took the time to stop and tell me I had a headlight out today! :)

  • F9 November 19, 2012 (7:13 pm)

    Many of us religiously clean the leaves from the alleys and the sidewalks and the streets. Some so called professionals, even those working for the EPA, that live in West Seattle, and having GIANT deciduous trees, don’t. Amazing. But, by no means, shocking. Lazy, or clueless, I guess.

  • SunriseHeights November 19, 2012 (7:38 pm)

    Big tree down in our backyard. Luckily no damage that we can see. And it even missed the power lines.

    • WSB November 19, 2012 (7:44 pm)

      Are you near the tree that fell on the SUV? (We have a photo of that – putting up more photos from the day a bit later.)

  • SunriseHeights November 19, 2012 (7:49 pm)

    We are close to the one on the SUV. 7300 block of 28th. Will try to take a picture in the morning when there’s daylight. Assuming daylight is an option tomorrow.

  • Amy Thomson November 20, 2012 (3:32 am)

    We have a quarter mile long ditch on the under-maintained road to our house. My husband and I managed to clear about two thirds of it on Sunday afternoon. Good thing we did. I’ve had to clear the blocked drain grate four times yesterday. I”m trying to get the energy up to go check it again, since I can’t sleep.

Sorry, comment time is over.