WEST SEATTLE WIND: Sunday pm trouble updates

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(Wind-whipped whitecaps on Puget Sound, photographed by Peter Commons)

4:16 PM: Though the “wind advisory” expired hours ago, big gusts are causing big trouble right now.

We’ve been covering:

–Two power outages (the bigger one just ended)
–A wires-sparked brush fire east of Lincoln Park

And now we’re getting word of other problems, including:

-Tree down on California north of Hamilton Viewpoint
–~~Signal~~ Light pole down on 35th at Brandon

Updates to come. And if something is happening where you are and we’re not on it yet, tips/photos appreciated (as always!) at 206-293-6302 – thank you! And stay safe.

4:27 PM: This appears to be the light pole a texter mentioned, down on the west side of 35th SW just north of Brandon:

No traffic effects (but be careful in general because branches are down on some streets).

4:44 PM: And here’s a really BIG blockage:

That’s on California just uphill from Harbor. If you are turning uphill, you can see the problem AND you can detour to Ferry, but if you are coming downhill, right now there’s no warning until you are almost all the way to the blockage – hopefully there will be police and/or signage soon by Hamilton Viewpoint. No crew on scene yet working to clear the trees, either. We tagged SDOT when tweeting this photo in case they hadn’t heard, and they say they’re alerting their Safety Response Team.

4:57 PM: Just in via text, a tree down in North Delridge.

The texter says the tree came down on private property, from the 4th hole of West Seattle Golf Course, and damaged “decks, fences, and a hot tub.”

5:49 PM: Thanks to Colby for the tip that there’s another outage, a little over an hour old, along part of Roxbury near 28th/26th – that’s affecting Roxbury Safeway. We’ll check there in a bit. Not far from there – not wind-related but in case you wondered – 15th SW in White Center is blocked just north of SW 100th because of a driver-vs.-pedestrian incident.

6:34 PM: Roxbury Safeway has some power but exterior lighting is off and cold cases are draped over. Meantime, the outage affecting our HQ and other areas east of Lincoln Park – in Gatewood and Upper Fauntleroy – is now up to 371 customers, per the City Light map. And yet more tree trouble:

Marc near 46th SW/SW Hanford tweeted the photo and reported, “Half the neighbors’ big leaf maple just fell in our yard!”

8:33 PM: Yet more tree trouble. Eileen reports this scene along Glenn Way:

She says, “Not blocking the road – just the sidewalk. Partially covering a couple of parked cars.”

9:52 PM: 8th hour without power. But there’s progress – we saw City Light crews nearby. Also saw crews at the California blockage just up from Harbor Avenue. The tree trouble isn’t over, though – we’ve also heard of one down near 44th and Admiral, and another one in Sunrise Heights. (Added Monday morning – reader photo of the 44th/Admiral tree)

No reports of injuries so far. Meantime, just checked the real-time 911 log and a transformer fire is reported in the 3200 block of Walnut.

10:07 PM: … and the transformer-fire call is already closed. The forecast, meantime, is now for the wind to diminish after midnight. And the next three nights are still projected to have lows in the 20s.

10:16 PM: SDOT says the trees blocking California just up from Harbor are now cleared and the road is open again.

10:53 PM: Tree trouble on Pigeon Point – N. James says this one fell along 22nd SW north of Andover:

N. James sent that – they called 911, but it was determined that the road is not blocked and while some wires are hanging over the street, they’re “high enough for a normal-height vehicle to pass, but trucks may not.”

6:29 AM: We updated the power-outages report overnight but just to note here as well, no major outages remain – a couple small pockets. (The biggest outage was in our area, Upper Fauntleroy/west Gatewood/east of Lincoln Park, 371 customers, restored after 11 hours, around 1:30 am.)

Xana La Fuente February 18, 2018 (4:56 pm)

Yup.

Morgan February 18, 2018 (5:19 pm)

These old poles are a biiiig problem. Remember when they came down in Holly alley? And nearly caused a fire?

Well they never finish the job of taking all these ancient poles down. Not enough funds? Wait for the wind?

Question Authority February 18, 2018 (5:29 pm)

Keeping up with the lifecycle of 10’s of thousands of powerpoles is like painting the Golden gate bridge, when you finally get done you start over so lighten up.
- AHLifer48 February 18, 2018 (10:17 pm)
  
  So, qa…do nothing? Let the bridge rust out n fail? When the power goes out at ur place, then it’s a big deal?
Kersti Muul February 18, 2018 (7:36 pm)

If the comm lines are still attached it’s an issue between the contractor and the power company. Usually they take forever to remove their equipment so the utility can remove the old pole…
- Morgan February 18, 2018 (8:03 pm)
  
  I feel like this explains what I see with the brittle poles…thank you
chemist February 18, 2018 (9:44 pm)

In this case, it looks like this was just a streetlight-only pole. Others have entanglements of multiple utility wires that all need migrated over. There’s one in my alley that has been in that process for 2 years now.

Pamela February 18, 2018 (7:34 pm)

There was a blue flash maybe electrical over towards Vashon seen from Morgan Junction about 5 minutes ago.

Wongul Wzuly February 18, 2018 (8:33 pm)

Comcast anyone?

WS Native February 18, 2018 (9:59 pm)

Transformer fire at walnut and Hanford. A fire truck just went by. We still have power on 41st.

WSB February 18, 2018 (10:07 pm)

Just noted that from the RT 911 log. The call closed very quickly.

annika February 19, 2018 (12:59 am)

We just had a telephone/utility pole replaced last week down here on 59th Ave SW between Lander and Stevens.

JB February 19, 2018 (6:08 am)

I live on 35th where the pole fell and it fell onto 35th Ave SW blocking both southbound lanes. THANK goodness on timing, if that pole had fallen on a car, this report would be way different. Two men stopped and pulled the pole to the side of the road.

WSB February 19, 2018 (6:52 am)

It’s pretty amazing that for everything that fell yesterday, from this to trees to wires, we have no reports of anyone being hurt anywhere.

steve February 19, 2018 (9:20 am)

Question? If a neighbors tree falls into my yard, who is responsible to clean it up? Me or him? If it causes damage, do I suck it up, or are they responsible? Suppose I’ve talked to my neighbor and suggested that his tree placement does not look safe to neighboring buildings? This must be a common occurrence here in the northwest, just never experienced it myself. These huge winds are obviously causing havoc.

Eddie February 19, 2018 (10:09 am)

It’s a good opportunity to get on “Judge Judy”.
seaopgal February 19, 2018 (12:03 pm)

Not a lawyer, but the general answer is that if your property is damaged, then your own home insurance pays for your damage. If you can prove that the neighbor KNEW that the tree was rotting or otherwise likely to fail and did nothing, you might have a case against them. But it has to be more than just the fact that you think it’s too close to your property. Take heart: the vast majority of trees don’t blow over, which is a good thing since they are the lungs of the planet.

Eddie February 19, 2018 (10:11 am)

That tree on Glenn way was cool. Huge, elegant branches.

Tina February 22, 2018 (10:44 am)

The tree from the golf course fell into our yard and our neighbor’s yard. It missed our house by a few feet. We got really lucky.

Tina February 22, 2018 (11:15 am)

The tree that fell from the West Seattle Golf Course fell on our property and our neighbor’s. We were lucky that it missed the house by a few feet and that we hadn’t gotten into the hot tub (as planned) yet. I was very surprised to learn that although it fell from city property, that the city is not responsible for the clean up.