Windstorm damage in Enumclaw leaves many without power, in cold for days

ENUMCLAW -- Most outages in South King County were restored by Thursday morning but many were still out of power in Enumclaw.

Puget Sound Energy said the windstorm Tuesday and Wednesday caused heavy infrastructure damage in Enumclaw, causing long-term power outages and road closures.

The sign outside Krain Corner near 264th Ave SE reads, “We have heat.”

With hundreds still without power in Enumclaw Thursday night, those words attracted droves of customers into the restaurant.

“Everyone wants some hot coffee or hot tea,” server Shalyn Benson said.



But it’s been a challenge cooking since the restaurant has been out of power for the last 48 hours. Their generator only has enough juice to power half the restaurant, just enough to keep all the food from going bad.

“It’s been a challenge, we spent all day yesterday getting the generator up and running,” Benson said.

"I am just glad they are open a lot of places aren’t open yet,” customer Bill Wheeler said.

Wheeler enjoyed a hot meal -- a nice break from a rough couple of days.

“I’m tired of it,” Wheeler said, adding that he has been using a generator at his home, but "it’s starting to get expensive.”

He’s hoping the winds won’t pick up again and trigger new problems. Wednesday night, strong winds topping took down massive trees and power lines all over South King County.

Enumclaw is the latest epicenter of power outages. As soon as utility crews are done with one spot, there is another cluster of outages to tackle.

“They are doing the best they can,” Benson said.

Despite the inconvenience and loss of business, Krain Corner says it can always be worse.

Krain Corner eventually got their power back Thursday afternoon.

Puget Sound Energy utility crews still had work to do, with more than 2,500 customers out of power at 10p.m.

Most of those outages were in Enumclaw and many customers may have to wait another night before power is fully restored.