King County responding to severe weather
Power outages affect operations; 9 Public Health facilities closed
King County District Court and nine Public Health – Seattle & King County facilities are closed due to power outages as a result of a severe wind and rain storm that swept through the region overnight. King County’s Wastewater Treatment system also suffered significant impacts due to flooding from the storm.
Numerous roads in King County are closed and could remain impassable into Friday because of fallen trees and power lines. Up-to-date road closure information can be found at the King County Road Alert Web site at: www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/roads/roadalert.
Executive Ron Sims signed an emergency proclamation this morning in response to the overnight wind and flooding occurring throughout the county. The King County Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) was activated overnight to monitor the situation and help coordinate the county’s response efforts.
Early indications are that King County is one of the hardest hit areas with power outages in the region. Puget Sound Energy is reporting 700,000 customers without power in their nine-county service area.
A number of King County operations are affected, including:
District and Juvenile Courts – The King County District and Juvenile Courts are closed today due to the inclement weather. King County District Court has no power in many of its courthouses and Juvenile Court is closed due to flooding. King County Superior Court is open.
Public Health – The following Public Health sites are closed until further notice because of power outages: Auburn, Federal Way, Springwood, White Center, Columbia, Eastgate, Northshore, Renton Dental and North Dental. The status of these sites will be re-evaluated and updates will be posted on the Public Health Web site, http://www.metrokc.gov/health/.
All other Public Health operations and services are open on regular schedule.
Wastewater treatment – Severe storms overnight caused multiple power failures and flooding that significantly affecting treatment operations at two key King County wastewater treatment facilities.
Overwhelmed by heavy rains, the West Point Treatment Plant in Magnolia experienced multiple power failures, loss of communication equipment and substantial damage to the pumping systems. Due to high water volumes, operators were only able to treat 40 percent of the flows coming into the plant, bypassing the rest of the flows to an emergency outfall in Elliott Bay. (Maximum design capacity is 440 million gallons per day. The plant typically treats about 133 mgd during wet weather).
Operators were able to get the plant back on line at 4:50 a.m. The plant is currently treating wastewater at the primary level, which includes screening solids and disinfection.
County staff are still assessing the extent of the damage to the plant facilities. There is not yet an estimate for when the county will be able to resume secondary treatment.
The Barton Pump Station in West Seattle experienced significant flooding, damaging pumping equipment. To protect people and property, the county is currently bypassing flows to a combined sewer overflow outfall 600 feet into Puget Sound. The county expects to replace the damaged pumps today and will resume normal operations as quickly as possible.
County staff will notify the appropriate health and regulatory agencies about the overflows.
Solid Waste disposal facilities – The Factoria Transfer Station in Bellevue, Houghton Transfer Station in Kirkland and the Algona Transfer Station are temporarily closed until problems with fallen trees and power lines can be assessed. The Bow Lake Transfer Station in Tukwila and the Renton Transfer Station are open.
No problems with other facilities have been reported at this time. Information about King County transfer stations is available at: http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/facilities/transfer.asp.
Parks facilities – King County Parks staff will be out inspecting trails and parks this morning to assess damage and possible safety hazards. The county will close those facilities where safety hazards exist. The Parks Division closed Juanita Woodlands in Kirkland prior to the windstorm due to hazardous trees that were deemed vulnerable to high winds.
Emergency Proclamation – The emergency proclamation signed by Executive Sims this morning allows for:
- County departments to respond quickly to save lives and property by allowing funds to be transferred within their budgets in order to effectively respond.
- Emergency contractors can be used to bring additional resources to rapidly respond to the needs of the county.
Power line safety:
If you see a downed power line, do not touch it or attempt to drive over it. Assume the line is live and move toward safety slowly by shuffling your feet along the ground as you walk far away from the power line. This will prevent you from being electrocuted. When you are a safe distance away call 911. Downed power lines can be reported to Puget Sound Energy by calling 1-888-225-5773.