jwtripp.com

On the evening of December 14, 2006 a storm blew through western Washington with a force more devastating than any in memory. Straight line winds up to 115 mph whipped through the heart of King County snapping 100 foot conifers like toothpicks.

Puget Sound Energy lost power to over 700,000 (more than two thirds) of their customers. Fully one half of PSE’s transmission lines were damaged or destroyed. Power crews from as far away as Illinois and Arizona were enlisted to aid in the power restoration effort.

Over the next 9 days 500+ crews from across the United States assisted in the massive endeavor. Rem was “asked” to help with damage assessment and subsequently “Bird dogging” (crew support). For this highly specialized task he needed a driver. One could never be expected to assess damage without a driver, could one? Out went the calls to the trusted few. I was the first to return the call.

One week later after many long days and even shorter nights the restoration process ended, just in time for Christmas. I tried to chronicle a little of what took place that week before Christmas in the Puget Sound. Or at least, what I saw.

Rem and I spent most of our time on Mercer Island working with a couple of Southern California Edison crews. It was, for me, an eye opening experience.