With the National Weather Service predicting one of the strongest La Niña weather patterns in more than 50 years, a cold, snowy winter may be coming our way, which means greater chances of power outages. There are pro-active steps you can take right now to be better prepared in case Mother Nature strikes.

Create an Emergency Kit

A simple emergency kit can help you get through outages. A kit should contain items such as: flashlight, batteries, matches, bottled water, food bars and canned food, blankets, manual can opener, battery-powered radio, battery-powered clock and first-aid pack.

Plan Ahead for Special Medical Needs

It's critical that customers using special medical equipment at home, such as respirators, consider purchasing a back-up generator and have other contingency plans in place. Set up plans with friends or relatives to get to a site with electricity and/or identify emergency centers at local social service agencies and churches. While the PUD strives to provide continuous electric service to customers, it cannot guarantee that occasional power outages or failures won't occur.

Stay Informed

Listen to local radio newscasts for the latest information about the PUD's storm response efforts. The utility regularly provides updates to KIRO-FM (97.3), KOMO-AM (1000) and KRKO-AM (1380). Large storms generally impact a wide area, creating many projects to tackle. That makes providing specific information about how long an outage will last extremely challenging when many thousands of customers are without power. Our employees are dedicated to working diligently to restore power to every customer as soon as possible.

Who to Call

Following big storms, we know many people are without electricity. If you have specific information about a tree in a power line or a power line on the ground, please call the PUD at 425-783-1000 (toll-free at 1-877-783-1000). If it's a life-threatening situation or medical emergency, call 911.

Stay Warm

If your power goes out, choose a small room with few windows as your primary living area. Keep your window drapes closed as much as possible. Also dress warmly. Wear several layers of clothes and, if needed, gloves, hat and a scarf.

Turn Switches Off

Try to remember what was turned on at the time the power went out and turn the switches on those items to the "off" position. It's especially important to turn off anything that has
a heating element, such as the electric range, an iron, or a toaster oven. Turning items off will prevent a fire when the power is restored. Unplug sensitive electronics to prevent damage from potential electrical surges. It's not necessary to turn off hot water heaters.