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SALT LAKE CITY — More than a thousand households were still without electricity Monday after last week’s windstorm knocked out power for tens of thousands across northern Utah.
Rocky Mountain Power reported about 1,659 customers were still without power as of 11 p.m., mostly in Salt Lake and Weber counties. That number is down from Monday afternoon's 3,600.
The company was working Monday to restore power to the remaining small percentage of customers who are still without it, Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Spencer Hall said in a tweet.
At the beginning of the day, the company reported there were about 4,600 customers still without electricity, but that number jumped slightly to about 4,700 later in the morning. Some calls came in to the company from customers who either had not reported their outage or had something change with their power status, such as non-Rocky Mountain Power electricians visiting their homes and taking damaged equipment offline, Hall said.
Most customers will be back on the grid by the end of the day Monday, but some repairs will continue into Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the company’s website. Rocky Mountain Power previously said crews were hoping to repair most of the outages by the end of last week, but repairs have extended past that deadline.
Crews are working around the clock to repair the damage, and employees from other utility companies have pitched in to help, Rocky Mountain Power reported.
Liberty Park, Fairmont Park, Sunnyside Park, Lindsey Gardens, Richmond Park, Riverside Park, Washington Square Park and the Salt Lake City Cemetery were still closed as of Monday afternoon due to fallen trees and other windstorm damage, according to the Salt Lake City Public Lands Division. The division has been focusing on the cemetery, where 225 trees fell, and at Liberty Park, where 69 trees fell.
The Salt Lake City Downtown Farmers Market will resume this week at Pioneer Park, both on Tuesday and Saturday, the division said.
SLC PARKS UPDATE: Note that all the following parks ARE STILL CLOSED for the public's safety: Liberty Park, Fairmont Park, Sunnyside Park, Lindsey Gardens, Richmond Park, Riverside Park, Washington Square, and the SLC Cemetery. (1/4)
— SLC Public Lands (@SLCPPL) September 14, 2020
More information about wind damage is available via the city's website at slc.gov/wind-damage-faqs.
Nearly 200,000 customers were left without power following last week's windstorm, which brought triple-digit wind gusts to some areas of northern Utah last Monday and Tuesday. Thousands of trees have also been destroyed due to the storm.
People should be mindful of damage to power equipment around their homes and should have an electrician inspect aspects of the meter and service mast mechanism that are property of the homeowner, Hall said.
Our crews are hard at work in repairing damage from the unprecedented windstorm and restoring power to all customers as quickly and safely as possible. Here's a look at a repair today in Salt Lake City. pic.twitter.com/01niviETKF
— Rocky Mountain Power UT (@RMP_Utah) September 14, 2020
The weatherhead, service mast and meter base are property of the homeowner. Rocky Mountain Power crews can only work on equipment that is owned by the power company, so if the power is out and the service mast is damaged, it will need to be repaired by a licensed electrician before power company crews can get you back on the grid.
"Be very careful around damaged equipment and have an electrician look at items on the homeowner side," Hall said.
Contributing: Lauren Bennett, KSL.com
