WINDSTORM AFTERMATH: Morning traffic updates, as power outages continue

6:39 AM: Thousands of people are still without power after the overnight windstorm that hit just before midnight and roared with ~50 mph gusts for hours (here’s our coverage). If you’re headed out this morning, be aware you may encounter streets with downed trees/wires and dark signals. We’ll be tracking those over the next few hours. In West Seattle, most of the 4,400+ without power are in Alki, Admiral, and north of The Junction; even more are out in White Center and points south. The Seattle City Light map shows the areas affected – and also shows that right now, 58,000+ customers throughout its service area are still out, down from 72,000 but still leaving crews with a lot of work ahead. If you encounter a traffic/transit problem, please let us know when you get where you’re going – comment below, or call/text 206-293-6302.

6:56 AM: The East Marginal Way/Ellis problem we reported in overnight coverage continues. Here’s a map; that’s south of the 1st Avenue S. Bridge, but north of the South Park Bridge, so if you were planning to use the latter, heads up. … Most of the trees reported downed overnight were on residential streets, but we do have a report of one this morning on Myers Way just south of West Seattle, near 99th.

7:27 AM: Big Seattle Fire response to the 2200 block of Harbor SW [map] for a reported natural-gas leak. Avoid the area. … Update: Traffic on Harbor is blocked between Florida and Fairmount, while they await Puget Sound Energy.

7:53 AM: Texter reports wires down at 44th/Andover. (Even though some downed lines might be fiber/cable/phone, PLEASE always assume a downed wire is live, and stay away!) Now that it’s light, we’re heading out to check some of the overnight damage locations – we’ll update here but you can also watch the WSB Twitter feed as we go.

8:17 AM: No online classes today for Seattle Public Schools.

8:32 AM: The tree that fell on Marine View Drive at 104th overnight is still blocking the SB lane:

Just passed an SDOT crew doing tree work on southbound 35th SW south of Othello. … Back on Harbor SW, PSE has arrived at the gas leak. Jennifer at West Bay Espresso & Smoothies says it’s their site and the culprit was a mudslide hitting a gas line.

9:08 AM: In Admiral, Waite is blocked east of 49th, near Aegis Living, with a leaning utility pole:

Back in Arbor Heights, Nate reports a tree is blocking 39th at 100th and lines are down on 41st near 100th. And here’s 32nd just south of 106th:

9:45 AM: East of Lincoln Park, two trees are down on 45th SW north of Rose, blocking the NB side.

11:01 AM: Harbor is clear, per a commenter, but the caution tape was left up across the biking/walking path. Meantime, King County Roads says 26th Ave SW between SW 109th St and SW 112th St is closed because of downed trees.

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Below, the cameras we usually watch, and a reminder:

LOW-BRIDGE CAMERA ENFORCEMENT: Today is the third day the enforcement cameras on the low bridge are in use, photographing vehicles so that $75 tickets can be sent to owners of unauthorized vehicles crossing between 5 am and 9 pm.

Who’s authorized and who’s not? See our story from Sunday night.

West Marginal Way at Highland Park Way:

Highland Park Way/Holden:

The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):

The main detour route across the Duwamish River, the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map):

The other major bridge across the river – the South Park Bridge (map). Here’s the nearest camera:

To check for bridges’ marine-traffic openings, see the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed.

You can view all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page.? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.

43 Replies to "WINDSTORM AFTERMATH: Morning traffic updates, as power outages continue"

  • JH January 13, 2021 (6:54 am)

    Are there any reports of the power outages affecting the school day? Hard to do remote learning without power. 

    • WSB January 13, 2021 (7:04 am)

      Nothing so far.

  • Christopher January 13, 2021 (7:10 am)

    Our trampoline is a casualty of the windstorm. Completely busted. The metal arms that support the Safetynet are bent over more than 90°. What’s so crazy is I don’t remember seeing anything about this in the forecast. And the trampoline has survived wind storms before

    • WSB January 13, 2021 (7:18 am)

      The wind advisory wasn’t issued until after 8 pm. I’ve been checking weather alerts frequently lately and everything until then was just rain rain rain. We published the advisory at 9 pm but that’s certainly after many people have stopped reading news for the night …

  • John W January 13, 2021 (7:16 am)

    Additionally Comcast service is down in Morgan Junction/Gatewood

    • Sue January 13, 2021 (10:38 am)

      Interesting.  I’m in Gatewood, just south of Morgan Junction. Didn’t lose power and my Comcast internet/cable is working just fine (and has been all morning.

  • Erik January 13, 2021 (7:25 am)

    Don’t be surprised if you have Comcast/Xfinity and your internet is out as well. The main connection from West Seattle back hauls through Burien (last I checked), and Burien is having lots of power issues as well.

    • James January 13, 2021 (7:40 am)

      Yep, looks like my network is down, and of course the comcast / xfinity web page for outage map isn’t loading (isn’t that *comcastic*?)

      • WSB January 13, 2021 (8:01 am)

        We’ve heard from some whose Comcast or CenturyLink is down even though they didn’t lose power. Unfortunately neither offers a utility-style outage map.

        • James January 13, 2021 (8:10 am)

          I was eventually able to log in to the xfinity service webpage, they do have a really crappy map which can’t be zoomed or panned, but it does show events across the area, each one impacting between 50-2500 customers (if I’m reading it right). The service is projected to resume for me around 3pm (North Delridge)

          • Wavydavid January 13, 2021 (8:35 am)

            Thank you. We’re in South Delridge, didn’t lose power but Comcast/Infinity isn’t working, even after router reboots. Parents should know they are not alone and to not get frustrated or anxious – teachers well understand what’s happened. My suggestion: make a plan to get out in the beautiful weather today instead of just waiting around stressing. This could take a while.

    • trickycoolj January 13, 2021 (7:52 am)

      East Marginal/Ellis is 11 downed power poles and the whole street is barricaded. 

  • LyndaB January 13, 2021 (7:26 am)

    I drove through 4th and Michigan at 7am and it was a four way stop.  No one directing traffic at that point.  4th from Michigan to Costco was all dark.  Travel safe!

  • Mikah January 13, 2021 (7:32 am)

    When going down Admiral toward the bridge at around 5am today, I swear the electronic sign said something ridiculous like “West Seattle Bridge closed 35th to Delridge” and listed overnight hours. Anyone else see that? Either there was some kind of glitch in the sign, the sign meant something else than I thought it meant, or the bridge is opening a lot sooner than we thought. (I’m guessing it’s one of the first two)

    • Carson January 13, 2021 (9:38 am)

      Funny, I ran down Admiral at 6am and saw the same thing and for the life of me couldn’t figure it out, but I was running and not driving so not much concern. It was a tough morning to run however, totally dark from the boat launch to Sunfish and then the closed off part of road before Beach Dr after the lighthouse. It was so windy and the tide so high the water was splashing all the way across the road and soaked me. Then the gas leak diversion on my return trip. It was an adventure.

    • Beth Waldron January 13, 2021 (10:59 am)

      Saw this at 6:30 and was confused as well!

  • Cathy Jessup January 13, 2021 (8:01 am)

    Burien Kaiser Permanente is without power.

    • WSB January 13, 2021 (9:51 am)

      Thank you! Anybody heading south should check the outage map – you can zoom right in.

      • Cathy Jessup January 13, 2021 (12:23 pm)

        Power restored to Burien KP now

  • DM January 13, 2021 (8:19 am)

    The Seattle City light blog is now showing that the big outage affecting 4,000+ customers in Alki/Admiral/Schmitz Park area is not going to be restored until after 7pm tonight. Is that right???

    • WSB January 13, 2021 (9:54 am)

      If I didn’t already say this once upthread, the City Light estimates are ABSOLUTELY MEANINGLESS. Could be much sooner, could be much later. If I were guessing – which is all the estimates are really doing (as I learned from an SCL spokesperson years ago) – I would say evening seems reasonable, as the crews have so much work to do. We have just finished traveling much of the peninsula and didn’t see SCL crews so I suspect they’re still busy elsewhere first…

      • DM January 13, 2021 (10:08 am)

        Thanks for that context. That the best response we can expect from our city services is a power outage that lasts from midnight to 7pm is insane. What are people supposed to do with critical health care electronic devices at home? Or the breast milk in my fridge for my baby? Or frozen and refrigerated food that people are just expected to replace when so many people are struggling financially??? I’m stunned and appalled by the poor response from SCL. 

        • John W January 13, 2021 (10:51 am)

          DM and others with special needs should view the Emergency Preparation Info so often provided by WSB and community emergency activists.Being ill prepared under the loss of power for a few hours is indicative of preparations for The Big One..Immediately, DM can run to the store and get ice, refraining from opening the frig and even move goods outside to chill. They also might invest in a generator orcar inverter to temporarily power refrig or medical devices.

        • trickycoolj January 13, 2021 (10:52 am)

          Then you shouldn’t move to an area served by PSE where the response time for my family’s homes in Pierce and Thurston over the years have extended to 8-12 DAYS after events like this. Don’t open your fridge/freezer they’re safe for quite a while. You can claim food losses to your homeowners/renters insurance policy.  I’ve learned not to stock my freezer beyond what I would be upset about losing in a power outage after experiencing multiple multi-day losses growing up. 

        • wscommuter January 13, 2021 (11:03 am)

          Really?  You might try getting a grip.  We had a major wind event that knocked power out region-wide for thousands of people.  That your  power isn’t on yet less than 12 hours after the storm is an inconvenience, but SCL has to prioritize its work on the biggest outages and the most dangerous situations.  In what way, pray tell, are you “stunned and appalled by the poor response from SCL”?

  • Greg January 13, 2021 (8:45 am)

    Water Taxi Shuttle Route 773 is rerouting along California Ave SW due to the blockage on Harbor Ave SW. Missing all stops on Harbor Ave SW, SW Avalon Way , and 35th Ave SW.

  • AMD January 13, 2021 (8:51 am)

    Has there been any word on when the winds are supposed to calm down?  I see we’re past the worst gusts, but it’s still pretty windy out there (it’s trash day, and still windy enough it’s blowing people’s cans over/open).

    • WSB January 13, 2021 (9:51 am)

      We’ve just been all around the peninsula and I wouldn’t call this worse than “breezy.” Forecast says “Southwest wind 10 to 20 mph” calming to “to 10 mph” in the evening.

  • helpermonkey January 13, 2021 (8:51 am)

    El Camion taco truck down by Endolyne Joes looks like they lost their patio heater and canopy last night due to the winds. :( 

  • Gnarlotte January 13, 2021 (8:58 am)

    New restoration estimate from city light says almost 8PM 🥴 I guess today is a good day to jump start my 2021 reading list 

    • WSB January 13, 2021 (9:02 am)

      Please remember that restoration estimates are ABSOLUTELY MEANINGLESS – City Light itself acknowledges that – could be earlier, could be later. Given the amount of work they have ahead of them, evening seems pretty realistic.

  • anonyme January 13, 2021 (9:27 am)

    The estimate for restoration of power in Arbor Heights was 7 am, it came back on at nine.  The house got a little cold and I missed my morning chai.  In other words, NOTHING to complain about.  Weather happens.  I am a little confused as to why such a powerful windstorm was not predicted.  Isn’t electricity grand?

    • DM January 13, 2021 (10:11 am)

      I’m glad your experience has been un-eventful, but we are struggling with babies at home and prospect of no power restoration until late into the evening. SCL should be prepared for better responses for predictable weather scenarios like this. 

      • soadmiralk January 13, 2021 (10:43 am)

        Agreed 100%. We don’t live in the middle of nowhere. Maybe they can pay to restock our fridge and freezers. 

        • Lbalm January 13, 2021 (11:31 am)

          Buck up people. When I lived in Pierce county we routinely lost power for 3 or more DAYS (not hours) at a time. Knowing power will be back in less than 24 hours is music to my ears!

      • MW January 13, 2021 (10:51 am)

        I’m so sorry to hear about your struggle with the power and your babies! I had a very similar power outage situation and was exclusively pumping. Panic for sure! Kelly Mom website has advice and scientific studies relating to storms, power outages and breastmilk storage. I don’t live in WS anymore or I would offer our fridge and freezer for you. Sending you best wishes!

      • rpo January 13, 2021 (11:28 am)

        Why would SCL be responsible to reimburse you for trees falling on power lines and causing power outages?

  • WestOfBridges January 13, 2021 (9:40 am)

    49th & waite

  • soadmiralk January 13, 2021 (10:35 am)

    Can’t even get cell service through Verizon right now. Anyone know how they’re impacted or is it just their miserable coverage. 

    • BC January 13, 2021 (10:57 am)

      I’m on Mint and the service is poor (5 Mbps down and 0.8 Mbps up.) Mint runs on T-Mobile lines so T-Mobile users may be running into data issues as well. Customer Service for Mint stated that T-Mobile has a maintnenace crew working on some towers in the area. 

  • OnHarbor January 13, 2021 (10:54 am)

    Heads up for cyclists, the 2200 block of Harbor Ave is open again, but the police forgot to take down their tape on the trail.

  • TR January 13, 2021 (11:55 am)

    Here on Alki, I have power but absolutely no cell coverage, through T-Mobile and my work phone AT&T. I also have lost all internet services through Xfinity first estimate was 12:43 to be restored when I checked at 6a. My job site on Harbor Island has also experienced lack of internet, as well aS locations down in Portland. Unfortunate when you work from home. Hoping to get something back on soon me and the senior pup have been intermittently napping. 

  • Daniel Aivles January 15, 2021 (12:26 am)

    I’m up in Anacortes my internet went out early this morning but my lights are still on power still running. I tried everything and the router I got has enough power to pick up a signal if anybody hears anything let me know

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