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Your Weekly Update on What's Happening at the King County Council
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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Last week’s bomb cyclone was one of the worst storm cycles in recent memories. The devastation in some of our neighborhoods and communities is beyond heartbreaking. My team and I have been out surveying the damage in places like Mirrormont, Hobart, and Issaquah this past week and the devastation is jaw-dropping.
Over the weekend, my efforts were focused on meeting with local officials, monitoring the progress of Puget Sound Energy’s efforts to restore power, and lobbying for more resources for our region. However, there is much more work to do, and our neighbors need our help.
 An example of the damage I'm seeing in Mirrormont
Today, I am laser focused on doing whatever I can to help those who still don’t have power. I will be working to get more patrols from the Sheriff’s Office into these neighborhoods, working with the King County Permitting Department to coordinate and assist with rebuilds and remodeling of households damaged by the storm, and coordinating the community response with other local leaders. Additionally, I am working with local officials to call for a state-level disaster declaration from Olympia and funding for those affected.
My team is working to answer every inquiry we receive as soon as possible. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office directly if there is any way I can be of help.
 Reagan Dunn
King County Councilmember
District 9
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King County Councilmembers Sarah Perry and Reagan Dunn sponsored joint legislation this morning in response to the severe storm damage in East and Southeast King County resulting from the November 19 Bomb Cyclone.
The bi-partisan legislation focuses on two significant challenges for residents who suffered the worst of the storm damage. First, the legislation calls for the creation of expedited permitting decisions from King County for home, farm and business repairs stemming from the storm. The cost of the permits would be absorbed by King County. Second, King County is directed to expand its grant program for residents who have incurred out of pocket living expenses as a result of extended power outages. These expenses could include fuel for generators, short term hotel charges, food spoilage, dump fees, tree and branch removal and other storm related expenses. The grant program would also help those who may have been uninsured and underinsured for certain storm damage.
“East and Southeast King County residents have suffered for almost a week without power and many have had to clear their own property of storm damage to access their homes or leave their homes for basic needs. Helping these residents is a fundamental responsibility of King County government, and these actions will make an immediate difference for those families,” said Councilmember Reagan Dunn.
Councilmember Sarah Perry said that “there are a number of County residents who are uninsured and underinsured who do not have any way to repair their homes or remove fallen trees. We need to help these folks make repairs so they can recover from this cyclone and move on with their lives. In addition to our residents, I am particularly concerned with our farms and small businesses in East and Southeast King County who need our help. It's our job to be there for them."
Folks with any questions, or who need resources, are encouraged to reach out to sarah.perry@kingcounty.gov, or reagan.dunn@kingcounty.gov. The legislation will be introduced at Council tomorrow on an expedited basis, where it will be referred to Committee of the Whole for a hearing in early December.
Read the full story here:
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Tiger Mountain Country Store (14331 Issaquah-Hobart Road Southeast, Issaquah) from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Customers can get basic support, including charging for small devices, Wi-Fi, beverages, light snacks and information from PSE staff.
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Issaquah Senior Center - 75 NE Creek Way, Issaquah, WA 98027
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A list of additional Warming Centers and/or Charging Stations across King County can be found here: kcemergency.com
Per my office’s request, I have received the below updates from Puget Sound Energy over the last few days.
Over the last 24 hours, more than 150 line crews and 70 tree crews worked throughout the day and night to help over 22,000 customers regain power from storm related outages. We now have 98% percent of our customers back online since the bomb cyclone hit Western Washington Tuesday afternoon and will continue to work as fast as we can to restore every customer.
Being without power is incredibly disruptive and gets harder as time goes by. We know this is so hard for our customers still experiencing an outage—we are working around the clock to restore power to you.
(The below region-specific updates were received on November 24th, 2024)
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Issaquah: Issaquah and the surrounding area experienced large/dense tree failures and extensive damage to poles, arms, and twisted wire. Issaquah High School and Issaquah Preschool Academy are remaining schools in need of restoration in this area and have been given priority by our storm bases in preparation for Monday. The outage was primarily due to the West Issaquah substation which has been a prioritized effort during the last few days. There are many resources assigned to this area, as we are expecting this to continue to be a large restoration effort. With crews actively working to restore power, we expect significant progress today.
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Mirrormont: Throughout the day on Saturday, 11 crews were working in this area and the work continues as the damage is massive; crews reported hundreds of trees are down on Tiger Mountain Road. Damage of this extent requires a heavily coordinated effort between tree crews and line crews, and an extended period of time may be required to restore power to every customer.
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Klahanie/Pine Lake/Sammamish Plateau: Klahanie Substation was restored close to midnight on 11/23 Saturday. BPA was able to energize their transmission line serving the substation days earlier than originally estimated, and PSE’s distribution system is currently being assessed to identify any remaining damage requiring repair.
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Hobart/Maple Valley: Hobart/Maple Valley is one of the hardest hit areas from the windstorm. It's a priority area for PSE crews and significant resources are being allocated here. Crews are reporting damage mainly due to trees that fell during the windstorm. This area will require a great deal of work and will take some time, but the crews are giving it their all to restore power to the area. Another priority in this location is the Lake Wilderness area; we’ve allocated a lot of crews to this area over the past few days.
Customer Impact and Estimated Times for Restoration – Information applies to regions that have been Emergency Activated. Assume other locations have minimal impact.
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Water Boil Alert set for Mirrormont Community:
Published 11/20: Washington Water Service is advising the customers served by our Mirrormont water system in King County to use boiled tap water or bottled water for drinking or cooking until further notice. We are advising you to take this precautionary measure due to a power outage and damage caused by the windstorm last night. This has the potential to affect water quality. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms that may have been introduced into the water."
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