87K Still Without Power Across Salt Lake Valley, Northern Utah
Sep 9, 2020, 5:11 PM | Updated: 9:10 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – With winds dying down substantially across Utah, Rocky Mountain Power crews said around 87,000 customers were still without power Wednesday evening.
That total was down from the more than 180,000 who lost power at the height of Tuesday’s storm, which brought gusts up to 100 mph on Tuesday.
“Customers without service tonight should prepare to be without power through the night and into Thursday, given the level of damage and the wide area affected,” officials said.
“As a wind event … this is the worst I have seen in my 20 years here,” said Travis Hiatt, one of 250 men and women working around the clock at Rocky Mountain Power to restore power.
Safety in mind, our crews continue to work around the clock to restore power. pic.twitter.com/S8XP747Zod
— Rocky Mountain Power UT (@RMP_Utah) September 9, 2020
Hiatt and his crew worked to fix a power pole in the Sugar House area Wednesday.
“You’re seeing the new pole in the air but before there was one snapped in half,” he said. “You can see the remains of the old pole and how it just snapped under the pressure.”
After crews isolated the lines, it took them six hours to clear the tree and remove the debris.
What’s left of a snapped power line on 1500 E.
Many steps go into repairing these. A @RMP_Utah lineman will explain them for you at 6 on @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/u7P8Gmof1u
— Morgan Wolfe (@MorganWolfeKSL) September 9, 2020
This pole will restore power for 3,000 customers in the area, but around 57,000 customers in the Salt Lake Valley and 29,000 in northern Utah were without power as of Wednesday afternoon.
Another 2,173 customers still needed power restored in Idaho and Wyoming.
Crews said the majority of customers will have power restored by Thursday evening.