POULSBO – Nov. 29 was a day of economic hope for local businesses, each of them counting on Small Business Saturday to give them a healthy start to the holiday season.
For Mother Nature, Nov. 29 was a day of wreck-oning.
Overnight snow was followed in the morning with strong, cold winds that downed trees and kept some roads icy.
A tree fell on three homes at Scandia Park mobile home neighborhood in Poulsbo. There were no injuries, according to Poulsbo Fire Department.
A power outage at the Edmonds ferry dock contributed to two-hour delays on the Kingston-Edmonds route; power was restored at 4 p.m.
Washington State Patrol reportedly closed the offramp from Highway 3 to Highway 305 late Nov. 29 because of ice.
As darkness neared, North Kitsap Fire & Rescue’s headquarters station in Kingston was opened as an overnight severe weather shelter. The county’s overnight severe weather shelter was also opened at Bremerton Food Line, 1600 12th St., Bremerton. That shelter was expected to be open until morning Dec. 1.
As of 6:30 p.m. Nov. 29, NKF&R had responded to 51 incidents within a 24-hour period, and Poulsbo Fire Department reported being “hammered with calls” within a three-hour period.
Kitsap County road crews began work shortly after midnight and continued through the day, Kitsap County public information officer Doug Bear reported on the county’s website.
“North Kitsap was hardest hit and crews continue to work on roads in that area,” he reported at 5:50 p.m. “Port Gamble Road and South Angeline Road are still closed with trees entangled in the power lines. Once Puget Sound Energy crews cut off power to the lines, road crews will remove the trees and reopen the roads. Most other roads are bare, and crews are using sand to provide traction.”
The National Weather Service forecast a nighttime low temperature of 24 degrees, and Bear reported that such low temps means any wet road surfaces will freeze. “Motorists are urged to use extra care and caution, particularly on overpasses, shaded areas, bridges and intersections,” he reported.
NKF&R and Poulsbo Fire issued similar advice over social media: If you can stay home, do so. If you must go out, leave yourself plenty of room to stop.
The National Weather Service made this forecast for the next two days: Nov. 30, sunny, high 35, low 25, wind from the north-northeast at 5-10 mph; on Dec. 1, mainly sunny, high 37, low 28, winds light and variable.
Despite the weather, residents reported having some things for which to be thankful this Thanksgiving weekend.
One, no one was reportedly injured by downed trees. Jose Deluna of Scandia Park told KING-5 TV that the tree that fell over onto his home landed inches from his wife and young daughter. The family escaped uninjured.
A Bellevue woman shared this happy story in a letter to the North Kitsap Herald: When she and her husband arrived in Kingston on the ferry for Thanksgiving with family, she discovered she didn’t have her purse, which had medicine for her husband. A grandson got back onto the ferry and checked their car, which was parked in Edmonds.
That evening, “[we] got a call from a ferry official that they had a black purse that a good person had turned in … [it had] no identification but for some phone numbers on a piece of paper. One was a local Kingston number and sure enough that was the right number … We really appreciate that the ferry officials went to great lengths to find us.”
And, several Poulsbo businesses reported brisk holiday shopping on Nov. 29, Small Business Saturday.
UPDATE AT 9 P.M.: As of evening Nov. 29, North Kitsap Fire & Rescue firefighters responded to more than 55 calls — more than seven times the average number for a 24-hour period — most springing from the day’s freezing temperatures and blustery winds, NKF&R spokeswoman Michele Laboda reported. But officials say that it could have been even worse had these conditions struck during the work week with more cars on the roads.
Incidents included several cars sliding off slick roadways. No serious injuries were reported.
A tree struck a Suquamish home the afternoon of Nov. 29. No one was hurt and damage was minor, Laboda reported. Several roadways were blocked by fallen trees and downed power lines.
Power was off in many neighborhoods late Nov. 29. Volunteers coordinated by the KingstonCares coalition and the Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management opened a severe weather shelter earlier in the evening at the NKF&R headquarters fire station near Kingston. The goal was to provide a warm place for those without heat or homes but, as of 9 p.m., no one had come to the station and the shelter closed for the night.
Temperatures were forecast to remain below freezing overnight and into Nov. 30.
Online: If you need overnight shelter from the severe weather, call 211.
