Power outages, road closures as weather batters Pierce County; Inslee declares emergency
Several thousand Northeast Tacoma residents were without power Monday as rain and high winds hit the region. The rough weather led to several road closures in Pierce County as the rough weather downed trees and utility lines.
On Monday evening, Gov. Jay Inslee issued a severe weather emergency proclamation that included a number of counties, including Pierce.
“The severe storm with floods, landslides, mudslides, and the potential for straight-line winds is causing road closures, the need to establish alternate transportation routes, evacuations, impacts to local utility services including significant power outages, localized reductions in available drinking water, and damage to homes and other public and private property and infrastructure,” according a statement from the Governor’s Office. “These storms are causing hazardous conditions for the people of Washington, homes, property, businesses, agriculture, transportation systems, and the economy of Washington State.”
The proclamation directs state agencies, including the National Guard, to assist local governments in responding to weather-related issues.
More than 4,300 customers in Northeast Tacoma were affected by power outages about 10:55 a.m., according to Tacoma Public Utilities’ Outage map. Near Elk Plain, about 540 customers lost power, according to the outage map. By 12:20 p.m., TPU said power had been restored to most residents in Northeast Tacoma.
The utility company said it was mobilizing crews to restore power to customers as soon as possible. It didn’t provide a cause for the outages, but weather conditions Monday were expected to lead to downed trees and power lines. According to the National Weather Service, winds in Tacoma on Monday morning reached 26 mph with gusts as high as 49 mph.
Peninsula Light Co. reported just after 1 p.m. that crews were responding to outages in the areas of Allen Point/Sehmel, Point Fosdick, Longbranch and 88th/Key Peninsula Highway South. The utility reported about 1,400 members without power and encouraged customers to keep track of outages at https://bit.ly/2Wtx33d.
At least three roads were reported closed in Pierce County due to downed trees hung up in utility lines. The county did not have an estimate as to when the roads would reopen.
- Orville Road East was closed from Brooks Road East to 264th Street East.
- Brooks Road East was closed from Neadham Road East to Fisk Road East.
- 44th Street East was closed from 50th Avenue East to 58th Avenue East.
In Puyallup, all city parks and trails were closed due to the weather, according to a tweet from Puyallup Police Department. Park staff will assess the safety of the parks and trails once weather subsides to determine when it is safe to reopen.
In Tacoma, trails at the Tacoma Nature Center on South Typer Street were closed due to high winds, according to Metro Parks Tacoma. Five Mile Drive at Point Defiance Park was also closed. The closure includes the inner and outer loops beginning at Animal Loop Road, according to its website.
Access is closed to Owen Beach, the Outer Loop, Fort Nisqually and the Point Defiance dog park.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 11:11 AM.
