Nasty wind and rainstorms, remnants of Pacific Storm Songda, are headed towards the Northwest.
Seattle City Light reports 35 power outages across the city, many of which were caused by downed trees. The outages runs from Broadview to Burien, according to their most recent map. You can view live updates here.
Today's wind storms could just be a taste of what's to come, said Scott Thomsen, a public information officer for City Light.
"Today is more of a typical winter storm for this area. What's coming tomorrow could be much worse. With that kind of event, there could be hundreds of individual power outages," he said.
Other models very similar re: Saturday storm. Confidence in high-impact storm increasing. (NAM 5,000' wind shown) #wawind #wawx #Seattle pic.twitter.com/Y1M1gHwNJL
— Morgan Palmer (@MorganKIRO7) October 14, 2016
In this situation, Seattle residents should prepare for longer waits to get their power back up. During the 2006 "Hanukkah-Eve" storm, Thomsen told The Stranger it took up to nine days for some neighborhoods to get electricity again. City Light's first priority is to remove downed power lines that pose a danger to residents and ensuring emergency services such as hospitals have power, he said.
Thomsen's suggestion: Assemble an emergency preparedness kit. This should include food and water for at least three days, a blanket, a battery-operated or hand-cranked flashlight and radio, and warm clothing.
"If you have a backup generator, make sure you keep it outside. Same goes for barbecues. If you bring those inside, you could have carbon monoxide buildup — it's invisible and you won't know until it's too late," Thomsen said.
City Light shared some other tips in their live Periscope session:
LIVE on #Periscope: City Light storm preparedness reminders https://t.co/TUPT6oZNER
— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) October 13, 2016
More storm safety guides and checklists, which are available in a number of languages, can be found here.
Here's a handy infographic for how to stock your car in case of road closures:
Is your emergency car kit ready to go? #PlanAhead & make sure you are prepared before you leave the house.
—> https://t.co/0fXWRD6Afu <— pic.twitter.com/UeWgzEqr8h
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) October 13, 2016
It might seem like a no-brainer, but it bears repeating: Take it slow on the road.
GIVE PEDESTRIANS AND BIKES EXTRA SPACE. You're in a dry, warm car. They're not. Have some %$@&ing patience. https://t.co/cwrxlyOAag
— NE Seattle Greenways (@NEGreenways) October 14, 2016
When in doubt, turn to the Charles Mudede Guide™...
I'm totally prepared for the storm. No disaster will exhaust the two cases of wine in my basement. I also have six bottles in the kitchen.
— Charles Mudede (@mudede) October 14, 2016
UPDATE 4:50 PM: The King County Flood Control District is also offering up free sandbags to folks living near streams or rivers to prevent flooding. Find out more about the program here.