You could have driven from Federal Way to San Francisco in the time it took some to commute home on Monday night, and all due to a little bit of snow. And ice. And bone shattering cold. Add scattered power outages and downed trees, and the sum is one of the worst weeks of winter weather in the area in years.
Unless, of course, you got to stay home from school and play video games.
Federal Way was not spared during Monday’s storm and the ensuing deep freeze. Despite sanding, salting, plowing and applying deicing chemicals, streets still froze Monday night just in time for rush hour. Federal Way Deputy Public Works Director Marwan Salloum said that the amount of cars on the road Monday night prevented crews from sanding, salting and plowing. That led to slicker streets, slower driving and fender benders.
“When you have everyone trying to get home on the roadway, it’s difficult for trucks to get to their destination, or to apply deicer or sand or salt,” he said.
The city was still plowing as of Wednesday, having moved off arterials onto residential streets. But by Wednesday, the city was out of rock salt and was awaiting a delivery from the state. City crews were working in 12-hour shifts, 24 hours per day through Wednesday, Salloum said. There was up to 6 inches of snow in some areas of the city, he said.
South King Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Kirsti Stewart said there’s a common set of incidents the department responds to during winter storms. First come the car crashes, then come the slips and falls on ice, then come a lot of broken sprinkler systems from the cold. When the sprinklers break, they trip an alarm that alerts the fire district.
Stewart could not immediately quantify the number of incidents over the past few days, but one indicator is whether car repair shop business is booming.
Ward MacPhail, a co-owner of Complete Collision Repair on 16th Avenue South, said damaged cars were trickling in. But he expected a big rush in the coming week after people start to work up the courage to drive again.
“We always, unfortunately, look forward to this time of year,” he said. “It’s definitely good for our business, though it sucks to prosper off of other people’s misfortune.”
Paul Legere, who works at Big O tires in Federal Way, said studded tires sold “like mad” this week. He sold around 70 of those tires, which come with metal studs in them, on Monday. He sold 60 of the tires on Tuesday and was on pace to do just as well by Wednesday.
Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman Abigail Elliott said that about 1,200 Federal Way residents lost power between Monday and Tuesday, mostly in the Dash Point Road and Redondo areas. That number was down to 20 by Wednesday.
Elliott said wind and downed trees did substantial damage to transmission and distribution lines, requiring, in some cases, workers having to re-string entire lengths of power lines.
Federal Way Public Schools closed schools early on Monday. Schools were closed Tuesday and Wednesday. District spokeswoman Debra Stenberg reported no accidents with buses, but she said there were a couple of incidents of frozen pipes at Truman and Federal Way high schools.
Several shelters were opened in Federal Way after temperatures plunged into the teens Tuesday. The Federal Way Community Center was open as a “warming” center on Tuesday and Wednesday as well as Friday. Steele Lake Community Church was open until Wednesday, and New Hope Community Church is staying open 24/7 through Thanksgiving.
The weather is supposed to be a little warmer and rainy in the upcoming week — but don’t switch out those studded tires just yet: There’s snow in the forecast for Dec. 3.
