Blackout follows wild wind storm

Published 2:00 pm Monday, March 24, 2014

By Joe Smillie, Forum Editor

Winds of more than 50 miles per hour ripped through the West End on Saturday, downing trees and knocking out power of hundreds of residents.

A gust of 52 mph was tallied at the National Weather Service’s station at the Quillayute Airport. Reports from Cape Flattery came in at 51 mph.

A monitor on Destruction Island off Ruby Beach recorded a gust of 72 mph.

Some 500 customers of Clallam County Public Utilities District had power knocked out for just under an hour Saturday morning when a branch fell over power lines, tripping a transformer.

The outage lasted from around 9 a.m. to 9:42 a.m., according to PUD spokesman Michael Howe.

More trees blew into power lines and knocked out power on the Hoko-Ozette Road.

Stronger storms struck the Seattle area, knocking out power to an estimated 27,000 customers.