1:09 PM: Power’s out for what appears to be a wide stretch – signals out along California as we drove north.
1:20 PM UPDATE: 10,000 customers (mostly) from the Junction north. No word yet on the cause.
1:35 PM: This hit just as we were heading out on an interview – the signal lights started going out all along California, from The Junction northward. Have made our way back now. Remember that any non-functioning signalized intersection is a four-way stop. Also note that if you’re hearing sirens – when the power goes out, some automatic fire alarms are triggered, and some elevators get stuck, and Seattle Fire crews have to respond to all of that.
1:47 PM: Note that schools and businesses are part of this sizable outage zone. … As you can see on the SCL map, the outage zone stretches some blocks south of The Junction in spots.
2:05 PM: This happened amid strong north winds, though we don’t have official word of a cause. As a result of the wind, the West Seattle Water Taxi‘s pm sailings have just been canceled.
2:09 PM: As noted in comments, a tree limb falling in North Admiral appears to be the problem.
2:19 PM: SCL spokesperson Jenn Strang confirms that’s the cause and tells WSB, “Crews are starting to work on the problem and we’ll start restoring customers as soon as we can.”
(Reader photo, from comments)
2:29 PM: We just talked to SCL crew at the scene. They say the fallen tree limb has been removed and now they’re doing some final work before determining how soon it’ll be safe to “re-energize.”
2:39 PM: Commenters are reporting getting power back, and the map shows more than half the originally affected 10,000+ customers (homes/businesses/schools etc. each count as one customer) are back on after an hour and a half.
3:09 PM: Now down to 2,637 customers still out.
4:20 PM: No change.
4:34 PM: Going back through The Junction, it appears the businesses on the west side of California are still without power, while those on the east side have it.
5:33 PM: Heading back south – west side of Junction still out. That includes ballot drop box area – no streetlights or lot lights – lots of foot and vehicle traffic – be careful!
5:40 PM: Power just returned to the west side of The Junction. … Map shows 108 still out.
8:58 PM: More than three hours later, that pocket of 108, mostly wrapped around the southwest corner of Camp Long, is still out.
1:08 AM: Down to 58 now, and attributed to “equipment failure” for this pocket:
2:52 AM: The map now shows everyone restored since our last check.
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