10:30 PM: Power’s out in some West Seattle areas. More than 5,000 out per map. Updates to come.
10:35 PM: Map added above. … The SCL map counts this as two outages, totaling more than 5,200 homes/businesses. Though no cause is officially identified yet, you’re probably well aware it’s a blustery night.
10:49 PM: Multiple reports of a flash seen/boom heard about the time the outage began, but there are no fire calls in the area, so haven’t heard any verification of that. Meantime, a couple standard power-outage reminders:
-If you have to drive, flashing or dark signals = 4-way stops
-Don’t open your fridge/freezer – if it’s a long outage, that’ll increase the time its contents can keep without spoiling
-Don’t get fixated on whatever ‘estimated restoration time” you see on the SCL map. That’s literally a guess, and seldom related to what actually happens. Could be back much sooner OR much later.
11:02 PM: Updated the headline to note that part of South Park is out too.
11:26 PM: Don’t know whether it’s cause, effect, or coincidence, but an SFD engine is checking out a reported power pole problem in the 7300 block of 19th SW. … (Minutes later) They couldn’t find the reported arcing wires, so they’re closing the call. Still no official word from SCL re: the problem.
11:58 PM: Some of those who lost power are back on – now it’s down to 3,600+.
12:14 AM: More are reporting restoration as of a few minutes ago. The map usually lags so we’ll see shortly how many. … Update: Now down to about 1,900 still out.
12:36 AM: Now some just LOST power … new outage, apparently. Highland Park and White Center have reported in. Map just updated – 3,500 more customers – the southernmost cluster here:
12:39 AM: Didn’t last long, at least for some.
12:49 AM: Now that entire south cluster is gone from the map, so we’re back to almost 2,000 out in West Seattle/South Park. … (added) A few of them are back on too, about 60 customers. A little over 1,800 remain without power.
1:11 AM: From Sunrise Heights – a security camera caught the 10:24 pm flashes that lit up the sky just as all this started – :32 into the video:
2:27 AM: Now down to a little more than 1,100 out.
2:56 AM: And another group is back. Now the West Seattle pocket is down to just under 500, with the South Park pocket at 240.
7:59 AM: Those two pockets are still out.
9:48 AM: SCL says via Twitter they’re hoping to have everyone back on by 11 am.
10:32 AM: The West Seattle pocket is down to 156; total number out now just under 400.
12:22 PM: Julie Moore from SCL just replied to our inquiry about the cause, and included a photo:
The cause was a large tree that affected two circuit feeders, with the impact along the main line for both feeders limiting ability to switch.
The impact site is in a greenbelt, creating difficulty for accessing the site and bringing in equipment, affecting the time it’s taken to complete repairs.
2:22 PM: Since that last check, everyone’s come back on.
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