Hundreds of West End residents in Clallam County remained without power Monday night, their homes darkened by the effects of a powerful windstorm.
Some of OlyPen’s DSL customers remained off-line Monday evening.
Other Internet and cell phone services for OlyPen’s 10,000 customers in Clallam and Jefferson counties were restored Monday afternoon.
The storm had sent a tree onto power lines and a fiber optic cable at Eaglemount Road on state Highway 20 near Discovery Bay, crippling Qwest long-distance and digital service across the North Olympic Peninsula.
Qwest repair crews had to wait until utility workers could clear electric lines at the site Monday morning.
They were working to splice the fiber optic line Monday afternoon.
In Forks, power restored late in the day made unnecessary Mayor Nedra Reed’s plans to open the Senior Center to residents in need of emergency shelter.
The storm blew the county into yesteryear early Monday, reminding people what life was like without the Internet, cellular phones or electricity.
The Clallam County Public Utility District said 17,000 customers were without power during the day because of the weather.
Winds blew as high as 92 mph at Clallam Bay, according to KOMO-TV in Seattle, with gusts exceeding 70 mph at Destruction and Tatoosh islands between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Hurricane Ridge reported 89-mph winds at the same time.
