Repairs complete, Seattle City Light braces for new storm

Business Wire, Dec 31, 1996

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 31, 1996--Seattle City Light crews completed repairs late yesterday for the few customers who remained without power from last week's snow storm.

With just a few hours remaining in 1996, the utility is now making preparations for a new storm tonight. It is expected to bring 30-40 mile per hour winds this evening between 6 p.m. and midnight.

With saturated soil conditions throughout the area, trees are more likely to overturn in high winds and tree limbs are also likely to come down, creating power outages.

Seattle City Light crews and customer service staff are on standby to respond quickly in the event of power disruptions on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Service crews are being held after hours tonight, and those that have been working continuously since last Thursday, are taking well-deserved breaks. The crews assisting Puget Power are being recalled so that they will be rested in the event of a need to handle storm damage tomorrow.

The Customer Call Center will remain staffed until at least 10 p.m. tonight, or until most restoration is made in the event of outages. Customers who experience outages should call 206/625-4448 to find out if the utility already knows about their outage. Then they may stay on the line to report their outage if it is not listed. Seattle City Light will staff all utility operations according to need on the New Year's holiday.

CONTACT: Seattle City Light

Sharon Bennett, 206/684-3008

pager: 206/386-4233