Power outages continue across Upper Valley; PUD cites difficult access, widespread damage

LEAVENWORTH — Chelan County PUD crews are working through difficult access conditions to restore power to thousands of customers in the Upper Valley after Wednesday night’s storm brought down trees, damaged power lines, and flooded several roadways.

As of Thursday afternoon, an estimated 9,700 customers from Peshastin, Leavenworth, Plain, Chumstick, Lake Wenatchee, and Lower Blewett remain without power, including more than 1,600 within Leavenworth city limits. The utility’s estimated restoration time for the region is around 6 p.m. tonight, though shifting conditions may affect individual locations.

Thursday morning around 8:15 a.m., the Wenatchee River at Peshastin entered its major flood stage, reaching 15.25 feet, so residents in the area should be extra cautious if they plan to leave Leavenworth headed down toward Wenatchee.

Jessica Laurel, who works at the PUD’s Chumstick Highway office in Leavenworth, said crews are being ferried in and out of work zones because storm impacts have made some roads difficult or impassable. “I do know that they're shuttling workers to the downed lines, just because of traffic and road closures,” she said.

The PUD office at 222 Chumstick Highway is currently closed to the public, though customers can still reach the utility at (509) 548-7761 or check outage details and restoration progress at the PUD’s online outage map: https://outages.chelanpud.org/.

PUD officials are urging residents to avoid downed lines, conserve battery power, and check on neighbors as crews continue restoration work throughout the day.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media