Pierce, Thurston counties suffer most damage after windstorm pummels region

Thousands of residents were still without power Sunday after strong winds and heavy rains swept through the area Saturday and overnight.

The power utility Puget Sound Energy reported that 115,000 customers throughout its entire Western Washington service area, including Pierce and Thurston counties, remained in the dark at noon Sunday. The utility said winds gusted up to 60 mph Saturday evening in parts of the region, after drenching rain squalls both Friday and Saturday.

South Sound has felt the brunt of the storm, according to PSE.

“Damage is the heaviest in Pierce and Thurston counties,” PSE officials said in a 6 a.m. update. “The high winds and resulting tree damage not only downed the smaller, local power lines, but also damaged the larger transmission lines — the power lines that bring power into the communities. We dispatched helicopters this morning to these areas to assess damage to our transmission lines.”

The need to first fix those larger power lines could slow power restoration efforts, according to PSE. The utility reported it had 69 crews working in the field on Sunday.

“Transmission lines need to be brought back into service before crews can focus on the local distribution system within neighborhoods and communities,” PSE officials said.

Find Energy, another service that tracks power outages, is reporting that about 24,000 utility customers in Thurston County don’t have power.

“This represents 17.31% of the 140,897 customers we track in the county,” the Find Energy information reads.

In Pierce County, about 33,000 customers across several utilities, including PSE and Tacoma Power, also didn’t have power Sunday, Find Energy reports.

The National Weather Service wind advisory that was issued for the region on Saturday came to an end Sunday morning.

Wind gusts of 45 miles per hour were recorded in the Olympia area Saturday afternoon, according to National Weather Service data. In the Seattle/Tacoma area, wind gusts reached 47 mph, the data show.

The storm appears to be over. The forecast for the remainder of the week shows partly cloudy skies and much lighter winds, according to the National Weather Service. Rain is expected to return next weekend.

This story was originally published October 26, 2025 at 2:09 PM.