WASHINGTON — Puget Sound Energy is standing by ahead of the very windy Christmas Eve that could bring blackouts.
Starting at noon on Wednesday, wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour are forecasted.
“We have had a lot of storms and we know that it’s been tough on our customers as well, but we’ve just got to have them prepared for situations like this,” Gerald Tracy with Puget Sound Energy told KIRO 7.
This month, severe flooding and a different windstorm left hundreds of thousands without power. Things are just bouncing back and PSE is warning of the potential for more outages.
“It’s absolutely terrible timing,” Tracy said. “Unfortunately, this is something we have to deal with in the PNW when storms come back. But we usually don’t have to deal with these hard, strong storms back to back to back.”
Tracy said about 40 crews are standing by to restore power as quickly as possible. If the damage is too great, PSE may call in outside help.
“Whenever the storms get bigger, if we need mutual aid, we will start bringing those guys in,” he said. “That’s something that our teams are doing- not calling them in immediately, but making sure the stuff is in place, the communication lines are in place for when and if we need to start calling in crews from out of state.”
Tracy also recommends preparing at home. In the event of an outage, he recommends keeping your fridge closed to prevent spoilage and having an emergency kit ready.
KIRO 7 paid a visit to McLendon Hardware in Puyallup, where general manager Bobby Knick said there was a “run” on generators during the last storm.
He said the store is fully stocked on generators, flashlights and more ahead of more potential outages. The biggest sellers throughout the whole ordeal have been tarps.
“Everybody’s getting tarps, covering up what they have, things that can get destroyed,” he said. “That’s what they are after. And then, we’re just prepared for lights being out.”
PSE put together a checklist of items that should be in your emergency kit.
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