Thanks to J Lee in First Hill for the picture!
A freakish summer windstorm has left Seattle utility crews scrambling to clean up after falling trees and cracking branches.
Around Capitol Hill, power outages were limited to around 1,000 customers out of service around 1:15 PM — nearly 50,000 were out across the city. You can check the latest status from City Light here. The Hill’s first wave of outages has been mostly concentrated around the leafy Harvard-Belmont historic district.
Large trees were reported blown down near 15th and Prospect as well as in the 700 block of Boylston and near 24th and Boyer. Police are asking residents to stop calling 911 to report downed trees and wires:
We are aware of the power outages and downed trees. Please call 911 for life-threatening emergecies, notify @SEACityLight ,@seattledot
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) August 29, 2015
Speaking of clean-up, the winds were strong enough to blow not one but two chemical toilets into the street on E Union. Gust of up to 29 MPH have been reported on Capitol Hill.
A high wind warning for the area from the National Weather Service is currently in effect through 6 PM.
Here’s a look at the devastation in Volunteer Park:
UPDATE 8/30/2015 9:25 PM: Yikes! Power is still out for some on the Hill:
@seacitylight any idea when we might get power back on broadway and aloha?
— christy lee (@ghostofrapture) August 31, 2015
City Light is estimating remaining outages around Broadway will be taken care of by Monday afternoon.
Fine the contractors for not securing portable toilets.
The city should require that all construction sites be fenced. The site at Mercer and Malden is a total mess – the sloppiest construction site I’ve seen in this city and their crap was blown all over the surrounding area over the weekend. A fence would have certainly helped contain their mess.
What a great photo!