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Storm Season Starts Early – City Light Wants You to be Safe and Prepared

SEATTLE — Last night, Mother Nature ushered in a September storm to remember; knocking out power to more than 21,000 City Light customers. Crews worked through the night and morning to restore power to various neighborhoods in Seattle and other outlying areas in its service territory.

The September storm is not over as high amounts of rainfall and increased wind gusts are expected tonight. Seattle City Light would like its customers to be safe and prepared should a similar storm come through again. Below are some safety and power outage tips to pass along:

Safety and Power Outage Tips:

  • Stay away from any downed power line and never touch or get in contact with the wire
  • Customers on life-sustaining equipment should have emergency power backup, know how to operate it, and test it regularly
  • Unplug electrical appliances when the power goes out to prevent fires and equipment damage during prolonged outages
  • If you live in a secured building, know which exit door to use during an outage
  • Know how to manually override your electric garage door
  • Do not use candles as a light source or any open flame as a heat source
  • Have an emergency kit on hand that includes a flashlight with batteries, glow-in-the-dark stick lights, wind-up clock, portable radio, manual can opener and Mylar blanket
  • Stock drinking water (one gallon per person per day), dry and canned food, first aid materials, prescribed medications and additional blankets

*To report a downed power line or outage, please call (206) 684-7400. To get the latest updates, please visit the City Light outage map and the Seattle City Light Twitter and Facebook page.

Seattle City Light is the tenth largest public electric utility in the United States. It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to nearly 1 million Seattle area residents. City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.