Small pockets of the Plateau are still without power after a bomb cyclone hit western Washington last week.

Enumclaw, Black Diamond, and parts of Buckley were hit with a massive low-pressure wind storm on Nov. 19. While gusts around King County reached speeds between 50 and low-60 mph, the Plateau was buffeted with speeds up to 74 mph.

Power lines and trees were starting to come down as early as 3 p.m.

While Puget Sound Energy originally estimated that all power to residents in the 98022 ZIP area would be resolved by noon on Nov. 23, there are still some small outages in the Wabash, Veazie, and Newaukum areas.

Photo by Ray Miller-Still A section of SR 169 was closed for days while PSE crews worked to restore power in the area. A section of SR 169 was closed for days while PSE crews worked to restore power in the area. Photo by Ray Miller-Still

According to PSE, 35 crews were sent to restore power in South King County; 11 specifically came to the Enumclaw area. In total, 175,063 PSE customers lost power.

Unsurprisingly, the Enumclaw Fire Department was busy the night of the storm and the following morning; Deputy Chief Ben Hayman said crews received twice as many calls than usual. While there were some homes that were heavily damaged, “I don’t recall any injuries related to the storm, or any… deaths related to the storm,” Hayman said.

The Hughes family had only lived in their first home in Enumclaw for 19 days before a tree came down on their house.

“We just bought our first home… only to have a tree come through our master bathroom while me, my husband and kids were only a few feet away in the master bathroom,” Cecilee Hughes said. “It was honestly the most afraid I have eve[r] been in my life, until we ran to the front door to leave and realized that a tree had fallen on the main line behind our house and caught fire.”

Danielle Wethered also reported major damage to her parents’ house.

“Everyone is OK. [A] truck lost a windshield and there are holes in their brand new roof but nobody was hurt,” she said. “The family rode out the storm in style, courtesy of their trusty generator that kept the fridge humming and my mom’s angel fish tank bubbling, all while their furry sidekick, Luke, kept them company.”

Misty Frantz, owner of the Rockridge Country Market, not only had trees fall across the parking lot entrances, but the power outage caused her to lose thousands of dollars in wasted products.

Some people on social media compared this storm to one that hit Enumclaw in 1983 on Christmas Eve, with winds that exceeded 120 mph.

According to Living Snoqualmie, “The mother of all gap windstorms was striking with hurricane-like force. Renowned meteorologist and University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences Professor Cliff Mass called it, ‘Probably the greatest downslope windstorm of the past century in the Pacific Northwest.’”

Dozens of cars lined up at the Cenex gas station in Black Diamond two days after the storm. Photo by Ray Miller-Still

“The wind shot through the trees on our property which sounded like several locomotives. To hear the trees snapping was scary,” Kathleen Hernandez commented on a Courier-Herald post. “The storm raged for at least three days, if my memory serves me correctly. Whole roofs were blown off peoples homes, downtown store front windows were blown out… It’s a storm we will never forget.”