From The Seattle Times...

Friday, December 15, 2006 - Page updated at 01:37 PM E-mail article Print viewStorm causes state of emergencyBy Jonathan Martin and Sara Jean GreenSeattle Times staff reportersKing County Executive Ron Sims issued an emergency proclamation this morning after supercharged winds of up to 70 miles an hour overnight knocked out power to about one million people in greater Seattle.As storm winds died down this morning, power, roads and sewage crews began to grapple with the damage and chaos from a storm that has killed at least four people.. In Seattle, hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage mixed with rainwater was flushed into Puget Sound after two critical parts of King County's wastewater system were damaged and overwhelmed by flood runoff.Major roads, including the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, I-90 westbound express lanes and State Route 524 eastbound at State Route 9, remained closed through the morning commute. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, closed overnight, reopened early this morning, as had the Hood Canal Bridge.The storm caused an unusual amount of damage the region's power infrastructure. Dozens of transmission lines — the large power lines that transfer power from dams and other sources to neighborhood substations — were knocked down in the storm, said Dorothy Bracken, a spokeswoman for Puget Sound Energy. PSE had dispatched a helicopter to pinpoint where trees had cut the transmission lines. PSE said it needed to assess those failures before targeting "feeder" lines that flow out from substations to neighborhoods.Seattle City Light said a typical storm downs two or feeder lines. Last night's storm cut 65; as of this morning, 58 were still not working, said spokesman Peter Clarke."There will be people without power tonight and when we get down to small neighborhoods there may be some of those that are out for more than 24 hours, " City Light spokesman Peter Clarke said. Some City Light customers may have to wait 48 to 72 hours to see their power restored.PSE reported 700,000 customers without power, most of them in King County, said Bracken. In addition to most Eastside cities, Bracken said "all of Whidbey Island is without power." The outages represent about two-thirds of PSE customers."This is a major storm with significant outages," she said. People living in the Cascade foothills and other rural areas should expect to be without power for "four or five days or more," Bracken said. In Seattle, City Light crews are working to re-establish power to roughly 153,000 residences and businesses, about half of the utility's customers. The Snohomish County Public Utility District report about 67,200 customers still without power as of noon. During the storm's peak, about 120,000 homes and businesses were in the dark. That's about 40 percent of the PUD's 300,000-plus customers.City Light crews worked to repair small power outrages that cropped up early Thursday evening. But by midnight, as winds gusted to 50 mph, the workers pulled from the job. "We didn't have crews out because it was dangerous," Clarke said. "They can't work up high and in their buckets when wind is blowing and trees were down. As soon as dawn hit we sent our crews out." PSE crews didn't begin repair work until 4 a.m., also because fierce winds, Bracken said.Several Seattle-area hospitals, including Providence, Children's and Swedish Medical Center were relying on generators after losing power. In outlying areas, people could be without power for five days or more. All of Sultan was blacked out most of the night. South and east Snohomish County appear to have been hit the worst, and the PUD says it could be days before power is completely restored in the county. Insurance companies said it was too early to assess damage from the storm, but Pemco reported a huge volume of calls."So far, it feels like this is going to be bigger than the Inauguration Day storm," Pemco spokesman Jon Osterberg said, referring to a January 1993 storm that's become the standard for wind damage in western Washington. "It's mainly trees on homes, trees coming down on fences, just general wind damage."Most Comcast cable customers lost service. A Sprint Nextel spokeswoman said that the network in the Seattle and Portland area is experiencing some disruptions due to power outages. Qwest reported few problems with phone service.Power outages closed many regional school districts and some major employers, including Microsoft, asked employees to work at home.Retail business tried to soldier though outages. Grocery and hardware store shelves were being picked clean of food, batteries, generators, camping stoves and Duraflame fire logs. Though much of downtown Bellevue remained dark, some Bellevue Square retailers intend to operate in dim, natural light, said General Manager Robert Dallain. Employees used battery-operated adding machines and paperwork for credit card transactions. Downtown Seattle was not affected by the outages and no essential services — hospitals and police and fire facilities — are without power, said City Light spokesman Peter Clarke.The north end of Seattle and the northern suburbs of Lake Forest Park, Shoreline and Richmond Beach have been particularly hard-hit, Clarke said. To the south, Tukwila, Burien and White Center have also had a number of outages.Within the city, there are significant outages in the International District, Yesler Terrace, Beacon Hill, west Wedgwood and Lake City. Parts of Capitol Hill, Ballard and a small section of Fremont are also without power, Clarke said.Downed trees closed several Seattle arterials, including Fauntleroy Way Southwest between California Avenue Southwest and Southwest Holly Street; North 125th Street from Roosevelt Way Northeast to 25th Avenue Northeast; North 130th Street and Evanston Avenue North; sections of Lake Washington Boulevard; North 45th Street in Wallingford; 35th Avenue Northeast from Northeast 50th Street to Lake City Way; and Lakeview Boulevard from East Blaine to East Howe Streets.Mercer Island residents have just one way out of the city, Island Crest Way, and city officials are advising people to stay home. The city said this may be the worst storm in memory for the city. Officials had already logged 200 incidents, and during the 1993 Inauguration Day storm, they logged just 50.Some of the strongest winds in the region – up to 100 mph – were reported on the Long Beach Peninsula. But officials reported no major damage or serious injuries."I've lived here all my life, and that was pretty amazing last night," Long Beach Police chief Flint Wright said.Amtrak Cascades service was canceled Friday due to trees and mudslides blocking the tracks.In Magnolia, the West Point waste-water treatment facility, which treats sewage from central, north and suburban Seattle, shut down at 7:15 p.m. because of power outages. Millions of gallons of untreated sewage and storm water was diverted out a pipe into the Puget Sound, said Don Theiler, director of the county's wastewater treatment division. The plant was restarted at 8:20 a.m. today.In West Seattle, a waste water pumping station near the Fauntleroy ferry dock failed, pumping raw sewage into the Puget Sound. Officials expect that plant to restart this evening.Utility companies ask customers not to call to report outages because they say they are already aware. However, if there is a downed power line, they ask that you report it."This is reminiscent of the Inaugural Day storm of 1993 when we had 700,000 customers without power," said Bracken of PSE. "It took several days before we could get all the power restored and we expect it to take several days this time." P.S. Scorpians Great Band...Seen Them Live Two-Three Times ...One Of The Best Live Bands Out There...http://www.the-scorpions.com/