Heavey rain and wind hit Kirkland bringing down some trees and turning off the power to about 300 homes Saturday evening as the city of Kirkland closed all parks out of caution. But the brunt of the fall storm, which is the reminence of a typhoon coming off the Pacific ocean, was weaker than predicted for the Eastside of King County.
Puget Sound Energy is reporting only one widespread outage in Kirkland in the Holmes Point neighborhood on Finn Hill. The outage is reported to be impacting 273 residents on the west side of NE Juanita Drive. City officials closed Holmes Point Drive NE at NE 141st Street and NE Juanita Drive early in the day on Saturday.
The city also reported via Twitter that a tree fell accross the Cross Kirkland Corridor early in the evening on Saturday. No one was hurt and no powerlines were impacted by the tree.
City officials closed all City parks from 2 p.m. on Saturday until noon on Sunday because of expected high winds and storm damage.
“This closure applies to Kirkland’s many waterfront parks as well,” said City Manager Kurt Triplett. “High winds and waves, while tempting to view, can be deadly. Please stay away from the shoreline. These precautions are being taken to keep our residents safe.”
A release stated that it is purely a precautionary measure to ensure falling limbs or uprooted trees do not put people in danger. Not all City parks have gates, and officials are urging residents to stay out if a City park does not appear to be closed.