PUYALLUP, Wash. — People spent the day cleaning up across parts of Pierce County after powerful winds early Wednesday morning caused damage and power outages.
Thousands of people in Pierce County woke up to no power on Wednesday, and some businesses and residents did not have power throughout the day.
Downed trees and power lines were seen throughout the Puyallup area, near Waller. A section of Pioneer Way was shut down the entire day due to a large tree that fell onto power lines.
“I got a text at 7:30 this morning that there was actually a tree down on a power line just over on 72nd, and so there were actually like police blockades kind of at either end of our driveway,” said Alex Bergman, who works at Watson’s Greenhouse and Nursery.
Watson’s is located right near where Pioneer Way was closed off on Wednesday. The business was one of multiple houses and businesses in the area without power.
The National Weather Service clocked wind gusts of more than 50 miles per hour in Puyallup and around 60 miles per hour in Tacoma.
Watson’s Greenhouse and Nursery had some of its equipment running on a generator but had to close their café for the day and make other adjustments.
“Our cashiers are running on iPads and like a little like hot spot Wi-Fi,” Bergman said. “So we are set to like have customers in, but it's definitely a little bit of a different vibe than normal.”
Bergman said with Christmas being one of their busiest times of year, they hoped to get power back soon.
“The wind was pretty surprising last night and who knows how long it will take to get everything kind of back up and running,” Bergman said.
Multiple school districts had to delay and close schools on Wednesday due to power outages, including schools in Fife and Orting.
Metro Parks Tacoma had to close multiple facilities and parks due to wind damage on Wednesday, including Point Defiance, according to their post on X.