Thousands without power across Thurston County on Monday as windstorms roll through
Several areas across Thurston County were without power Monday morning as strong winds sweep through the state. Wind speeds reached almost 30 mph locally on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
Large pockets of outages were reported throughout Lacey with the two largest affecting more than 5,000 people, according to Puget Sound Energy. Both were reported at around 9 a.m. and power was expected to be restored by 11 a.m.
Several other areas including Olympia, Tenino, Sunnydale and Grand Mound reported power outages with similar estimated restoration times. Puget Sound Energy had 278 active outages reported as of 10:02 a.m. with more than 38,000 people affected.
According to the National Weather Service, the weather system that brought rain and wind is moving on, but a new system is coming through, bringing more wind and rain. Thurston County could see wind gusts as high as 25 mph and potential precipitation totals of one-half an inch to three-quarters of an inch.
Elsewhere in the state, heavy rainfall caused flooding Monday that forced school closures and evacuation warnings.
The National Weather Service warned that winds nearing hurricane strength were possible in the region that has seen nearly ceaseless rain for about a week. A gust of 58 mph was reported Monday at Sea-Tac International Airport.
A state of emergency for the town of Hamilton was declared Sunday afternoon by the Skagit County Unified Command. People living in the Hamilton area, about 80 miles northeast of Seattle, were urged to evacuate as soon as possible, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.
People were warned to expect Skagit River flooding in Sedro-Woolley, Burlington and Mount Vernon.
The Red Cross began operating an evacuation shelter out of the Baptist Church in Hamilton at 5 p.m. Sunday. Blankets, cots, prepackaged meals and snacks were provided while supplies lasted.
Just south of the Canadian border in Sumas, heavy flooding was reported.
All schools in the Bellingham district were closed Monday because of dangerous travel conditions. A mudslide briefly closed a portion of northbound Interstate 5 through Bellingham Monday morning.
“At this point in time there is no reasonably safe way to drive to Bellingham without putting yourself or others at risk. Please do not drive through standing or rushing water,” the city’s police department said via Twitter.
Emergency officials warned that people should expect to see water in low-lying roadways and should remember to turn around rather than drive through water on the road. That water can be moving swiftly and be deeper than it seems, posing serious risk to people in vehicles.
Forecasters say conditions should improve by Tuesday after parts of the region have seen more than 6 inches of rain in the past several days.
About 7.7 inches of rain have fallen at the Olympia Regional Airport in the two weeks since the beginning of November, according to the National Weather Service. That’s more than double what is normal. It has seen 45.5 inches of rain since Jan. 1, almost 7 inches more than normal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Thousands without power across Thurston County on Monday as windstorms roll through."
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