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March Windstorm Rolls into Seattle

High winds knocked out power to Seattle residents and other outlying neighborhoods this morning.

Seattle City Light crews restored power to 6,000 customers and approximately 9,000 still remain without power. The impacted areas include: Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, North Seattle and Seattle’s Capitol Hill and Montlake neighborhood.

Seattle City Light wants you to be safe. Below are some tips on how to be safe and stay warm during an outage:

  • Use generators with care during a power outage. Never plug them in to your home circuitry. Instead, plug in appliances directly into the outlets on the generator. Most importantly, never use a portable generator indoors.
  • Downed power lines are extremely dangerous. If you come across any downed lines, stay at least 30 feet away and do not approach or touch anything in contact with the wire as it could be live.
  • If you experience a prolonged outage, be sure to turn off electrical appliances to prevent fires and equipment damage.
  • Try to retain as much heat as possible. Close windows, curtains, unused fireplace dampers, and dress in layers to conserve body heat.
  • Use hot water sparingly. Most hot water tanks will retain heat for up to 24 hours.
  • Keep your fridge and freezer closed as much as possible. A full refrigerator will maintain safe temperatures for up to 6 hours; a full freezer up to 2 days.

To report a power outage, call 206.684.3000 or 206.684.7400. For outage updates, please check the City Light outage map and follow City Light’s posts on Twitter and Facebook.