Weekend storms underwhelming, serve as reminder to prepare for the worst

Accompanied by great news media fanfare, the National Weather Service announced a series of intense storms consisting of heavy rainfall and strong winds were expected to hit western Washington around 6 p.m., Oct. 13 and last through Oct. 17.

Luckily for residents in the area, the storms were a little underwhelming.

Winds were picking up throughout Thursday, Oct. 13, and people were stocking up on bottled water and pulling out their stash of emergency candles, but in the end, most people weren’t that affected.

“We did not see too much impact from this storm, mainly because the winds were not as severe as predicted,” said Kathleen Cahall, water resources manager for the City of Bremerton.

But though this storm didn’t quite live up to the hype, Kitsap County is no stranger to severe weather storms, which can negatively impact more than just a good-hair day.

“When it’s really coming down hard with rain, and roads have standing water or flooding, and you don’t have to absolutely go out, stay home,” said Scott Wilson, Kitsap County Sheriff’s public information officer. “Unless you absolutely have to go, don’t, because all you’re doing is adding to the chaos.”

Traffic is often heavily impacted by severe weather. With heavy wind and rain, visibility for drivers is lowered while the dangers increase with flooded roadways. People drive slower in an attempt to be safer, but even driving under the speed limit might not stop a car from hydroplaning, or a driver from losing track of the lane boundaries or even other cars, if visibility is low enough.

“Weather does affect human behavior,” Wilson said. “(But) it’s just not something we have the ability to track.”

What can be tracked, however, is power outages.

While losing electricity for a few hours is a minor inconvenience in most cases, for some, losing power means losing water, as well.

“We’re prepared for emergencies on our end of things,” Cahall said. “(We have) generators at our critical facilities, people on standby to operate the system … we’re pretty prepared for that, but we also depend on customers to prepare for emergencies.”

Cahall said storm preparedness is similar to earthquake preparedness: specifically, stock up on drinking water. Cahall recommended keeping one gallon of water per person per day saved for emergencies, and recommends stocking for a three-five day outage.

But according to Kitsap Public Utility District (KPUD) General Manager Bob Hunter, losing water isn’t an issue in Kitsap County — for most people, anyway.

“Most of the citizens in Kitsap are served by larger water utilities,” Hunter said. “Our bigger ones, they have generators, they have built-in storage (of water) in our reservoirs, so they don’t run out.”

But there are some in more rural areas who are on smaller water systems, some that service fewer than nine houses.

“For many of these smaller systems, if the power’s out for an hour, they’re out of water,” Hunter said.

While KPUD, like the city water districts, is well prepared for emergencies with back-up generators and employees on emergency stand-by, a large-range power outage can mean many people go without running water.

“What people should be doing to prepare is to not only have gallon jugs of potable water to drink and cook with, but they should also store a couple of five-gallon jugs to fill the back of their toilets,” Hunter advised. “I think most people don’t think about that. No water, no way to flush the toilets.”

To find out if you’re on a small water system that may put you in this situation, Hunter suggested calling your water provider — though he said most people in this situation have already experienced it, and therefore “they’ve already learned.”

He added that saved water should be refreshed every six months or so, saying, “Water does stay for a while, but it doesn’t stay good beyond that.”

“I think people always need to be prepared,” Hunter said. “I think that’s the key.”

Silverdale Water District’s fiscal manager, Jeannie Screws, works with the district’s emergency response planning team. Screws said SWD works hard to prepare for weather emergencies.

“Silverdale Water District has generators so we can in fact get water moving around, should the power go out,” Screws said. “Those generators are routinely maintained and tested on a monthly basis, regardless of the weather condition.

“If we’re looking at a major windstorm, the employees will go out and fill up the (water) tanks to make sure they’re full, get the generators started up and make sure we have sufficient fuel for the generators.”

She added that in the event of an extended power outage, plans are in place to get more fuel for generators should that become necessary.

Her suggestion for at-home preparedness mirrors Cahall’s and Hunter’s: stock up on bottled water at home, with a supply for five days. She also suggested anyone on a private well water system should, if they expect to lose electricity, fill their bathtubs up with water in order to keep toilet tanks full, especially if you don’t have a large enough stash of water for the toilet tanks already.

Screws also suggested that if internet connection is available, to check your water district’s website, and the Kitsap County website, for updates. She said the district would absolutely update their website if they have the capabilities.

To learn more about emergency preparedness in various situations, including severe weather, visit www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/EmergencyPreparedness andResponse.