PUD offers important safety tips

EVERETT, Wash. – Snohomish County PUD considers the safety of its customers and employees to be its top priority.  This morning’s 4.6 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks stress the importance of personal safety and emergency preparedness in the region. 

An outage impacting approximately 725 customers followed this morning’s earthquake near Monroe. While the timing and location suggest a possible connection to the quake, the final cause was determined to be a tree in a line. This type of outage is common for the region and, after review, is not considered to be directly related to the earthquake.

More than 700 customers were restored within the hour, and all customers were restored by 9:45 a.m. The PUD’s electrical distribution system, which serves more than 350,000 customers, performed as designed and facilitated restoration to customers. The electrical system was not affected by this morning’s temblors, nor was the utility’s water system, which serves approximately 21,000 customers.

The PUD often stresses the importance of emergency preparedness, particularly in the runup to the Northwest’s winter storm season. Winter storms have the potential to cause widespread and long-lasting outages, much like a strong earthquake. The PUD’s Winter Storm Preparation advice is applicable in many emergencies, including earthquakes. Basic family emergency preparedness kits should include: 

• 3-5 days of non-perishable food • Blankets and pillows • Portable battery clock-radio
• Bottled water (1 gal/person/day) • Extra batteries • Manual can opener
• Cooler with ice packs • Flashlights • Candles (Ideally battery-powered)
• Lighter or waterproof matches • First-aid kit • Personal hygiene supplies
• Cash • Pet supplies for 3-5 days • Cards, games, books for fun
• Prescription medications • Phone charger for a car • Utility knife

The PUD is investing heavily in grid modernization, infrastructure improvements and reliability upgrades to ensure safe and dependable service for customers. Find more safety and emergency preparedness information online at snopud.com/stormprep.