Sunday storm left Key Peninsula in the dark, as falling limbs downed a major power line

The winter windstorm that swept through the Gig Harbor area on the weekend caused little damage, authorities said, although it left much of the Key Peninsula without power for hours.

Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One responded to a number of “tree-type” calls on Sunday, Feb. 23, according to Assistant Chief Eric Waters, but there were no reports of injuries.

“It was just another winter storm,” he said.

A cold front that moved through western Washington brought wind gusts up to 40 mph, knocking out power for nearly 20,000 customers in the Puget Sound area. Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma closed Sunday due to a power outage.

Scattered outages were reported on the Key Peninsula. Power was out in some areas for several hours, residents said.

“The wind storm hit everyone by surprise.,” said Britni Wickens, spokesperson for Peninsula Light. The original outages that happened in the key peninsula were due to trees taking down lines.”

Wickens said all 6,000 customers on the Key Peninsula were without power from about 6:50 a.m., when a major transmission line from Tacoma to Vaughn and Lakebay went down. A smaller number, about 900, had been effected earlier.

The Tacoma feeder was restored by 8:55 a.m., but went down again between 4:45 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. because of a limb across the line.

Meanwhile, Wickens said, Peninsula Light crews were dealing with smaller outages in the Hallstrom, Rocky Bay and Peacock Hill areas.

Key Peninsula firefighters responded to several incidents involving trees or limbs down across roadways or power lines, but there was no serious damage, said Chief Dustin Morrow.

“Even though it was a significant storm, it wasn’t that bad for us,” he said.

This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 11:37 AM.