VOICE of the Valley

22/11/2024

22/11/2024

The City of Maple Valley would like to help residents assess damage to your home or structures that may have occurred during the recent wind event.

Although building permits are required for structural repairs, emergency measures may be performed to protect structures from further damage prior to permit issuance.

Building department staff are available to inspect damaged structures. These no cost inspections help expedite the permit process, allowing permanent repair work to begin sooner.

For help determining permit requirements, please reach out via contact information below.

1. Contact your insurance company
2. Request a Damage Assessment Inspection via phone 253-413-6631 or email [email protected] Please include your name, phone number, address and scope of damage

22/11/2024

All Tahoma schools are CLOSED today, Friday, Nov. 22, due to ongoing power outages at 6 of our 9 schools. All classes, including preschool, and out of district transportation runs are canceled. After school activities scheduled at Tahoma High School only are able to continue. All other after school activities district-wide are canceled today.

The Extended Enrichment Program (EEP) will be open at Rock Creek Elementary only from 8 AM-6:30 PM (even if your child is enrolled in EEP at another school, they’ll be able to attend at Rock Creek). If your child is enrolled in EEP but is not scheduled for today, they can attend at a cost of $70 for the day. If your child is not currently registered for EEP at any school, they will not be able to attend.

Power was beginning to come back on in our district last night, so we had hoped to have power restored in more of our schools this morning, but unfortunately no progress to restoring power was made overnight. Puget Sound Energy has informed district staff that we should not anticipate power at additional schools this morning.

We thank you for your patience during this challenging time. Please stay safe, and we look forward to welcoming students and staff back on Monday.

22/11/2024

Schools Closed Friday, November 22, Administration Campus Open. We appreciate your understanding as we continue to prioritize the safety of our students and staff in the aftermath of this severe windstorm. We are working diligently with Puget Sound Energy (PSE) to reopen our schools. Currently, there are 17 schools without power and three with unsafe conditions. PSE estimates that power will be restored by Saturday, November 23. Power has been restored at the administration campus. https://www.kent.k12.wa.us/article/1885129

22/11/2024

22/11/2024

For residents needing to charge critical devices like medical or other equipment that are unable to wait until power is restored, we are opening the community room again at Covington City Hall tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 22 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

*Only standard outlets are available for charging.

22/11/2024

The National Weather Service has issued another Wind Advisory for Black Diamond and the surrounding area for tonight, Thursday 11/21 at 10pm until tomorrow, Friday 11/22, at 10am. Click the link below to the City's website for more details and a link to the NWS notice.
https://www.blackdiamondwa.gov/home/news/wind-advisory-thursday-11-21-and-friday-11-22

22/11/2024

The lobby at City Hall is open to the public to come in and charge your devices. We will be open today until 5:00 p.m. and again tomorrow during business hours.

We also have WiFi that you can connect to while your devices charge if need be.

City Hall is located at 22017 SE Wax Road, Suite 200.

22/11/2024

22/11/2024

All schools in the Issaquah School District will be closed on Friday, November 22.

As of Thursday afternoon, we are still without power at all sites across Bellevue, Issaquah, Newcastle, Renton and Sammamish. Like all of you, we are waiting for power to be restored. According to the updates we have received, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) believes power will come back on over the weekend.

This districtwide closure for Friday means there is no transportation. All locations are closed; and all programs, and activities are canceled for Friday, including community use of district facilities. All weekend events and use of facilities are also canceled.

Weather forecasters predict another storm with wind and heavy rain tonight (Thursday) through 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. Our team will reassess conditions on Friday and, once power is restored, will work to determine the status and prepare for the possibility of re-opening schools on Monday. We will have regular coordination and communication with the city and PSE and rely on our Operations team to give the all-clear. We plan to send you an update by 5 p.m. on Sunday; however, please know that we may not have enough information to decide about whether school can open on Monday until early Monday morning.

We would like to share that we are opening Cougar Mountain Middle School in partnership with the City of Issaquah for members of our community to charge personal electronic devices only from noon to 4 p.m. Friday. Internet access will not be available at the school, and there will be limited capacity.

We want to echo other messages from our city partners: Please stay safe and stay off the roads if possible.

We continue to communicate by sending messages via all available methods, because we are also experiencing limited connectivity and cell phone service. Please continue to share updates with others to ensure information is widely known.

Please stay safe.

22/11/2024

Well, this sucks! Overnight, a “visitor” broke into our shed and stole our pressure washer and other valuable items. Along with this, they also siphoned gas out of our van and broke the gas gauge. It’s one thing after the other, we guess.

22/11/2024

21/11/2024

21/11/2024

5:45 a.m. 11/22/24 UPDATE: Due to ongoing power and technology outages, Byron Kibler Elementary and the Birth to Five Center are closed today.

Enumclaw High School, Enumclaw Middle School, Thunder Mountain Middle School, Black Diamond Elementary, Southwood Elementary, Sunrise Elementary, and Westwood Elementary are fully operational and will be open today.

Open schools will run on the regularly scheduled half-day schedule. Conferences will occur at open schools only. Buses will run on normal routes.

Thank you to our operation teams, first responders, and PSE workers who are still working to return operations and power to our community!
.....
4:10 p.m. 11/21/24 : We are continuing to monitor the ongoing impact of this weather event closely. Currently, we have five school sites back up and running: Enumclaw High School, Enumclaw Middle School, Sunrise, Southwood, and Birth to Five. We will continue to assess conditions throughout the night and early morning.

Any delays or closures will be communicated by 6:00 AM.

School conferences that had to be canceled this week will be addressed by each school once they reopen. Thank you for your understanding, and please stay safe.
....
5:54 a.m. 11/21/24: Due to ongoing power outages across the Enumclaw School District, all schools are closed today (Thursday, November 21, 2024), and all activities are canceled.

Thank you to our operation teams, first responders, and PSE workers working to return operations and power to our community!