By Janet Somers, Peninsula Daily News
The new year began with scattered bursts of wind from Blyn to Neah Bay downing trees, breaking power lines to about 800 customers, and sending large objects flying at a home east of Port Angeles.
The scattered outages were reported from early Tuesday morning through late that night, and power was restored by early Wednesday morning.
On South Bagley Creek Road just east of Port Angeles, the wind smacked Russell Johnson’s house like the back of the devil’s hand.
“Over a quarter of my roof blew off,” the 74-year-old saddle maker said.
“My shingles wound up all the way down at the far end of the next property, a couple hundred yards or better.
“I’m from New Mexico and I’ve seen twisters before, and this thing was a lot more than a twister.”
David Prosbstel, chief engineer for Clallam County Public Utility District, said the district started receiving calls about extreme winds, tumbled trees and downed power lines shortly early Tuesday morning.
Affected areas included Makah Passage, Battelle Lab, Washington Harbor, Diamond Point and Blyn and Sequim Bay Roads.
The scattered customers who lost power all had electricity restored within a few hours of the outages, according to the PUD’s records.
The outages apparently did not extend as far as Jefferson County.
“We were aware of windbursts, but there was nothing that affected the system.” said Joseph Harris, spokesman for Puget Sound Energy, which serves Jefferson County.
