A Message from City Manager Kurt Triplett

Published on November 27, 2024

Downed tree on multiple power lines

Media Contact
David Wolbrecht
Communications Program Manager
dwolbrecht@kirklandwa.gov

To the Kirkland Community,

It has been a very challenging week in Kirkland.  Our community – and region – experienced one of the most damaging windstorms in decades.  Most of Kirkland was without electricity for days, and a handful are still without power.  Trees fell on homes and vehicles and blocked our streets.  Schools and businesses closed.  The impact of all of this left many of us stressed and frustrated.  

As City Manager for Kirkland, I want to thank you, our community, for your resilience in enduring these challenges.  Thank you for your patience with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) crews as they worked heroically around the clock repairing power transmission lines and other damaged infrastructure to return electricity to everyone.  And thank you for your acts of generosity and kindness.  Whether it was sharing stoves and other resources, checking in on neighbors, alerting the City to blocked streets, or in exchanging encouraging words, this is what our community is all about. 

Below, I’ll provide a comprehensive overview of the City’s response to the event, connect you with emergency preparedness information, and request your feedback on how the City can improve.  The latest information on the impacts of the storm can be found on the City’s website.

City Actions and Current Status

One week ago, on Wednesday, November 20, I signed a Proclamation of Emergency for the City of Kirkland.  Unlike a declaration of emergency - which only the President of the United States can do - local emergency proclamations like this allow us to be flexible in deploying resources, like contracts and City staff. Specifically, this emergency proclamation allowed me to authorize overtime for staff in departments that were directly responding to the needs of the incident – our firefighters, police officers, public works and parks crews, human services staff, and others.  In the first four days of responding to the storm: 

  • Kirkland Fire responded to 81 emergency calls for service directly related to the storm, in addition to the daily calls for assistance.
  • Kirkland Police responded to 337 storm calls on top of the hundreds of daily calls for service. 
  • Kirkland Public Works and Parks crews supported PSE in dealing with countless downed trees (PSE crews are in charge if power lines are involved), and our Parks crews were out clearing debris from parks, public facilities, and the Cross Kirkland Corridor.  
  • Our Human Services team, our Mobile Integrated Health unit, and our Homelessness Assistance and Response Team were all actively connecting with at-risk folks in our community, including seniors, people with unique needs, and folks experiencing homelessness. 
  • Kirkland Parks Recreation staff organized device charging centers at two City locations for residents to charge their medical devices, mobiles, and other electronics into the weekend.  
  • Our Solid Waste team coordinated with WM to accept free extra yard waste. 
  • Staff in all the other departments were also working to try to keep the functions of City government running, from permit review to construction inspection, and from City network operations to capital projects.

The emergency proclamation allowed me to quickly pay for emergency goods and services, such as additional fuel for our generators. This ensured that our fire stations had power, our jail stayed open, and our maintenance crews could access their equipment.  And, despite storm-related power fluctuations, the City Hall generators allowed the City Council to conduct the necessary business of the City during the height of the storm. 

All this work has been coordinated by our Emergency Operations Center (EOC).  Our EOC team was immediately activated, and was in daily contact with King County, Evergreen Health, Lake Washington School District, Public Health – Seattle & King County, PSE, neighboring jurisdictions, and many others.  Kirkland’s EOC team was advocating for our community’s needs and helping prioritize local and regional resources.  The EOC and City Communications teams played a vital role in keeping our community informed throughout the windstorm, sharing critical updates through dozens of social media posts, email notifications, fire station reader board messages, and our incident webpage, which was updated multiple times daily.

In summary, it took hundreds of employees’ significant effort and dedication to maintain City operations without significant disruptions.  I’m so proud of our entire workforce for maintaining our service to the community and ensuring we continued to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.  

Per Kirkland’s Municipal Code and state law, the City Council will ratify my emergency proclamation at the next Council meeting.  Throughout this emergency, the City Manager’s office connected daily with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Councilmembers to hear concerns they were receiving from residents and businesses and to keep the Council up to date.  I’m very grateful for the Kirkland City Council for their leadership and caring for our community, as well as the significant investments in City staff and emergency resources they have made over the past several years that help us respond to events such as this. 

So, after a week, what’s the current status in Kirkland?  PSE reports that less than 10 customers are without electricity and that crews are assigned to all of them.  We have deactivated dedicated charging centers, although City Hall and the community centers are open and available to the public during business hours.  Field crews have returned to normal operational levels and continue to clean up and resolve any remaining issues from the storm.  As of this writing, only one street remains closed. 

After Action Report and Community Survey

As we turn our focus toward the future, the City’s Office of Emergency Management has been tasked with leading a comprehensive review of the response. This effort will culminate in an after-action report that I will present to the City Council and the community. The report will serve as a valuable tool in enhancing our readiness and preparing us to meet the challenges of future storms and other emergencies with agility, flexibility, and strength.

To help shape this important report, I invite you to take five minutes to complete this brief survey about your experience with the windstorm and the City’s response. Your feedback is invaluable—City staff will carefully review each submission, compiling key themes and insights to incorporate into the report. The survey is available on the City’s website.  Thank you for your time and for helping us build a more resilient community.

Take the Brief Survey

Be Prepared

How can you prepare your family or business for the next emergency?  The City’s comprehensive Emergency Preparedness webpage has several immediate actions you can take.  As they say, chance favors the prepared.  

Finally, I encourage everyone in the community to stay up to date with what’s happening from the City of Kirkland.  Whether it’s tuning into our award-winning podcast, subscribing to our weekly newsletter, or following us on various social media channels, there are many ways for you to get the latest news and information from the City.  

Difficult events like this windstorm remind us of the importance of family, friends, and community.  All of us here at Kirkland wish you and your loved ones a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. 

With gratitude,

Kurt Triplett
City Manager
City of Kirkland

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