EVERETT — Repair crews are working night and day to restore power to thousands of Snohomish County PUD customers still without electricity after Tuesday’s devastating windstorm.
The Public Utility District hopes to have power restored to everyone by Sunday. Though that could take longer if unexpected complications come up, PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos said.
The number of outages peaked Tuesday evening when about 150,000 customers lost power. As of Friday afternoon, repair crews working around the clock pared that number down to 19,000.
Repairing the storm damage likely will cost the utility millions of dollars. For comparison, six days of repair work following a storm in 2006 cost about $6.3 million. And 10 days of repairs after a 2008 storm cost about $6.5 million, he said.
The PUD has not tallied the cost of repairs for the Aug. 29 windstorm, which knocked out power to more than half of the district’s 332,000 customers. However, the total surely exceeded the $2 million for storm damage repair in the PUD’s annual budget.
Many years the PUD does not need that much, Neroutsos said.
Nearly 90 work crews — about 500 people — are in the field working to get power back, he said.
The crews include ones from private contractors and other utilities.
“We’re trying to keep as many people in the field as we can,” he said.
The National Weather Service is forecasting cool, dry weather with light winds through the weekend.
Another 500 people are providing administrative and logistical support.
Field crews focused first on repairs that would have the biggest effect — restoring power to thousands of customers at a time. The work that remains has much smaller payoffs.
“Now the work brings back power to 25 or 50 customers — or fewer,” he said.
So, it takes more work to get the last few thousand customers back online.
Many of the remaining outages are between Marysville and Mukilteo, and to the east along Highway 9.
In Granite Falls, the Community Coalition is providing coffee, meals and hot showers for families in the area still without power this weekend. The middle school locker rooms, 405 N. Alder Ave., are open from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and may open again, if needed, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. People should bring their own towel and toiletries.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Transportation on Friday said it is making good progress reopening U.S. 2, which was closed between Skykomish and the summit at Stevens Pass after a flooded creek undercut a bridge.
Crews thought the highway would remain impassable through Wednesday. They now are hopeful they’ll be able to complete enough repairs by Sunday to reopen the route to a single-lane of traffic. They hope to be ready for two-way traffic by Tuesday.
“Over the past 24 hours our engineers have found ways expedite the repair process,” said Dave McCormick, the transportation department’s assistant regional administrator. “We understand the importance of this roadway to many people, and we are doing our part to get traffic moving as safely and as quickly as possible.”
The plan calls for rebuilding the embankment over the weekend and installing jacks under the bridge for stabilization. With the jacks in place, the highway can be reopened to a single lane of traffic and work can begin replacing soil washed away near the bridge during the storm, officials said.
Kari Bray contributed to this report.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
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