Strong winds knock out power in Pacific Northwest

SEATTLE – Utility crews worked Sunday to restore electricity to thousands of residents in the Pacific Northwest after a strong windstorm toppled trees, knocked out power lines and blocked roads.

Seattle City Light said Saturday night’s winds left more than 50,000 without power, but electricity was restored to a majority of customers by Sunday. Crews planned to work into Sunday evening and early today to make repairs to its distribution lines, the utility said Sunday afternoon.

The utility said a combination of wet soil from recent rains and high winds caused branches to fall on power lines.

Meanwhile, power was restored to more than 87,000 Puget Sound Energy customers by 1 p.m. Sunday. But the utility said on its website that it was working to bring electricity back to tens of thousands more though it said some residents might not have power until today.

Chris Burke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle, said some areas of Seattle saw sustained winds as high as 60 mph on Saturday. Winds were also blustery along the coast, where Westport clocked winds of 50 mph and gusts of 63 mph.

Wind gusts were as strong as 49 mph at Portland International Airport on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

In Oregon, Portland General Electric said about 14,000 residents did not have power as of 3 p.m. Sunday. By midday Sunday, the utility had restored power to about 120,000 and repaired nearly 140 downed lines.

“This is the biggest outage we’ve had since the storm of 2008,” PGE spokeswoman Sarah Pagliasotti said. Crews are dealing with hundreds of downed power lines, she said.

On Saturday, the Coast Guard helped crabbers on two recreational boats that encountered heavy winds and choppy seas on the Columbia River Bar, the Daily Astorian reported.