I called the Puget Power emergency line and was greeted with a broadcast message saying that there were over 700,000 customers without power and that it might take as long as one week to get everyone's power restored.
All told, there are about one million people without power in the Puget Sound area according to the Bellingham Herald:
Storms leave three dead, 1 million without power in region
A one-two punch of howling windstorms and heavy rains left at least three people dead and more than 1 million homes and businesses without power across Western Washington early today.
One woman died after being trapped in the flooded basement of her home, while falling trees killed two others.
The Evergreen Point floating bridge across Lake Washington east of Seattle remained closed early Friday and numerous other highways were blocked because of high water or windblown trees. The Hood Canal floating bridge and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge were reopened early Friday after being closed Thursday evening.
"We're asking everybody to stay home," Pierce County sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer said. "There isn't a place in east Pierce County that's not dangerous."
Our neighbors to the north in Abbotsford have 160,000 customers in the dark:
Blast of wind leaves about 160,000 in the dark
First it was rain, then snow, now it's the wind.
Commuters crept impatiently along on George Ferguson Way as traffic lights went out and cold suppers were on the table for thousands of Fraser Valley residents Monday evening, as winds gusting up to 115 kilometres in southern British Columbia blew out power service to an estimated 160,000 B.C. Hydro customers in the province.
The Mt. Baker ski area has about ten inches of new snow and it is powder and packed powder -- the wind has died down up there so they are business as usual. Great for the local economy for this weekend's skiing.
Today? Bring in some more firewood, head into town to drop off the furniture I got from Seattle and then hunker down and take care of a couple customers computers.
