20,000 lose power west of the Narrows. PenLight says to prepare for more outages
Update: PenLight posted on X shortly after noon Thursday that all outages caused by extreme weather this week have been resolved.
Initial post: Just after 8 p.m. Monday, around 7,000 residents across the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula area lost power. That number jumped to 20,000 residents by 10 p.m.
Peninsula Light Company posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, to let residents know crews were investigating.
They said in additional updates via X that there were “reports of trees down near Lackey.” High wind gusts and later “broken equipment on a transmission pole,” caused additional outages.
The Key Peninsula Fire Department and PenLight worked all night to get the outages fixed. Most residents saw power restored by 5:30 a.m., according to the PenLight outage map.
As of 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, just over 1,300 people west of the Narrows were still without power, according to the outage map.
At noon, the number jumped up to just under 2,500 people without power.
PenLight posted at noon on X that on Ray Nash Drive Northwest, near Whitmore Drive Northwest, there is a “pole sheared off hanging over the road.”
The post also said that there is a “large tree on the lines and the weight is making the two poles lean towards each other,” which is blocking the road.
According to the Pierce County road alerts map, there are five areas west of the Narrows with reported trees down as of 12:45 p.m.
PenLight hasn’t established when power should be fully restored, but said on X that crews are still out working.
PenLight also said on X that residents should be prepared for more outages, because the forecast shows this extreme weather will continue.
A wind advisory is in place until 10 p.m. Tuesday. There is a coastal flood advisory until 9 p.m. Tuesday.
That means the heavy rain could lead to flooding in parking lots, roads and parks, according to the National Weather Service, The News Tribune previously reported.
High wind gusts are predicted to reach 40 miles per hour, according to the NWS.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 11:58 AM.
