West Seattle windstorm update: Power back on to all but a handful as of midafternoon
(SCROLL DOWN FOR NEWEST INFO! And in case you need these, City Light outage hotline 206-684-3000 **** Click for mobile version of SCL outage map)
(Updated City Light map screengrab, as of 2:10 am)
1:40 AM: After midnight, the wind kicked up, as the National Weather Service had warned it was likely to do. There’s word of a tree down at a house in the 1300 block of Alki SW and possibly a slide too. (Added: Photo from Suzanne, showing one of the firefighters who were working on the downed trees in that area:)
And power’s starting to go out around the city – including the first West Seattle power outage report, in the Fauntleroy/Lincoln Park area. We’re watching the map. (added) Just got texts from Arbor Heights and north White Center about power woes there too. Let us know in comments or via text (206-293-6302) what’s up where you are.
1:45 AM: The southwest-end outages are now on the City Light map. We’ll add a screengrab – or, wait, maybe not yet; just got a text from Admiral.
1:56 AM: The Admiral outage is on the map as a small pocket, 9 customers; from Gatewood through Fauntleroy and into Arbor Heights/Arroyos, more than 4,700 customers (homes/businesses) are out.
2:07 AM: Map has now added a pocket of 100+ customers out in The Junction, and the Admiral pocket has grown to about that same number. We’ll change the screengrab. Note we have added the City Light outage hotline AND link to mobile version of the outage map, atop this story.
2:26 AM: The National Weather Service upgraded the alert to a “high wind warning” (see it here) as of about 20 minutes ago, in effect through 8 am. Our area’s holding at about 5,000 customers without power, just under half the SCL total. The “estimated time” for restoration is 8 am but keep in mind, that’s always just a guesstimate, could be earlier or later.
3:17 AM: SCL now blames a tree, somewhere, for the biggest West Seattle outage, the 4,700-customer outage in Morgan/Gatewood/Fauntleroy/Arbor Heights/beyond. The wind’s been much calmer the past hour or so, at least from our listening spot.
3:37 AM: About a quarter of those in the biggest outage zone apparently have their power back – the count has dropped from 4,700 to 3,600. By the way, no reports of any injuries so far into all this.
5:57 AM: Checking on SCL’s progress – the big West Seattle outage (now attributed to equipment failure) has halved again, now fewer than 2,000 (looks like the latest chunk of restored customers happened around 5 am). The Admiral and Junction pockets (~100 each, now blamed on trees) are still out. If you are out and don’t see your area included on the map, be sure to notify SCL at 206-684-3000 to make sure they know.
7:24 AM: Looks like no additional West Seattle restoration in the past hour and a half – still just over 2,000 customers out, and the estimate is now “pending.” Via Twitter, SCL says the main problem with which they’re dealing now, here and elsewhere in the city, is downed lines, including one near 44th/Roxbury.
8:32 AM: In terms of businesses affected, looking at the current outage map, it doesn’t look like many are still out BUT the Endolyne/Fauntleroy mini-business district appears to be in the outage zone. We are off to check and will add whatever we find. Meantime, Ocean View has lost power again, according to a text. And we’re sticking this story to the top of the site, but if you scroll BENEATH it, you’ll see our list of “what’s up today” including game-related changes and places to watch – or, click here.
8:37 AM: In all, 5,000 **more** homes/businesses just lost power, so we have 7,000 total in West Seattle. ***UPDATE*** Within minutes, that area (southeast West Seattle, White Center) got it back, though the SCL map doesn’t reflect yet.
9:17 AM: Now out and about. Went to Fauntleroy/Endolyne first, spotted City Light crews:
Power in that area JUST came back on but Endolyne Joe’s (WSB sponsor) tells us they won’t be ready for customers until about 11. Next door, The Original Bakery is closed because of the outage – they can’t simply reopen now because as the sign says, they lost their early-morning baking time:
9:49 AM: Spotted City Light at the Junction outage scene too, on SW Oregon:
According to commenters, both the Junction and Admiral outage pockets (less than 200 customers each) were caused by trees taking out wires/lines in alleys. (Added below: Photo from Gina, showing the Admiral scene. Thanks also to Sarah for sending one.)
10:42 AM: The entire southwest area is now back on, according to the map, texters, and commenters. Now it’s down to the 300 or so residences in the Junction and Admiral pockets, neither of which appears to be affecting businesses.
12:04 PM: Game time, and the number of West Seattle customers still out after 11+ hours is down to 114, per City Light.
3:36 PM: Just a handful still out, per SCL. The weather is continuing to calm, according to the forecast, but there was a bit of thunder about half an hour ago. (No, it was NOT from the stadium, but might as well have been, given what was happening in the game right about then!)
In case you were wondering, as were a few people who have contacted us to ask about it: A bicycle/car collision at Delridge Way/17th SW this past hour sent the rider to the hospital. Her injuries were not major, so she was being transported by private ambulance. Police told us at the scene that they expected to clear the intersection before long. 
Edward Donald “Ed Huet” Gottbehuet, 92, of West Seattle, died Saturday, January 10, 2015.
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