San Juan County WA Department of Emergency Management

04/15/2026

As we approach 8 hours without power, we just want to refresh on good sources of info, and share some general preparedness tips for outages:

As always, getting your info straight from Orcas Power & Light Cooperative is your best bet. This is their outage page: https://www.opalco.com/outages-safety/outage-center/, they also post updates on their Facebook and Instagram pages, and will directly email updates to customers as well.

Often in the case of an outage like this, even once the line in Anacortes is repaired by Puget Sound Energy (PSE), power doesn't come on all at once. OPALCO will carefully restore power incrementally to minimize the risk of damage to infrastructure.

PSE does have an update page for this outage. Note that as we write this it is showing a restoration time of 3:30, which has already passed, so obviously take this as a rough estimate, not an exact scheduled event. https://www.pse.com/en/outage/outage-map/outage-details?lat=48.48872&lng=-122.66657

EDIT @ 4:01pm on 4/15: PSE is no longer showing an outage in Anacortes, and the link above no longer works. Hopefully that means they've completed the repairs.

The Washington State Department of Commerce has an online outage map that can be a useful tool for visualizing outages across WA. https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/9d9cac249acb4eab957862eb74e53975

And finally, we want to STRONGLY ENCOURAGE all islanders to use this outage as an opportunity to strengthen your own emergency preparedness efforts. Imagine if it was colder or darker, or the outage lasted for days, or even weeks. What steps can you, your family, or your business or employer take to be more resilient and better equipped? OPALCO has a nice page with outage preparedness tips: https://www.opalco.com/outages-safety/preparation/ and please take a look at our preparedness info to get ready for the next outage, a winter storm, or some day, an earthquake: https://www.islandsready.org/

THANKS ALL!

Learn how to prepare for island-specific risks like earthquakes, storms, and wildfires with tips on household, neighborhood, and community readiness.

04/15/2026

As per Orcas Power & Light Cooperative, current outage is San Juan County wide and due to fault somewhere in the Bonneville Power Administration transmission infrastructure.

Follow the OPALCO Outage page for updates: https://www.opalco.com/outages-safety/outage-center/

01/30/2026

In case you haven't noticed, the Islands' Oil Spill Association has been doing great work for more than 40 years in San Juan County, and has made some great strides in recent years- with more exciting developments to come in 2026. Take a look at their 2025 Annual Report- and think about whether you might be able to get involved as a volunteer responder or a financial supporter (they could use your help with both!).

Congrats IOSA!!

Hey Community! 💙 Our January newsletter with our 2025 Annual Report launched today! If you're curious about what we've been doing - here's the link:
https://mailchi.mp/iosaonline/2025-annual-report

You can also visit our website at www.iosaonline.org/news

01/07/2026

The San Juan Island Library has started a new monthly lecture series called "The Local Lowdown". First up in 2026: Disaster Preparedness with San Juan County Department of Emergency Management (that's us!). This will be a great chance to learn more about hazards facing the islands, how we prepare, and what a response might look like. There will be lots of opportunity to have your questions answered.

Wednesday January 14th at 7pm at the Library on San Juan Island (1010 Guard Street). See you there!

https://live-sanjuan.pantheonsite.io/event/local-lowdown-7697

01/05/2026

QUESTION FOR ISLANDERS: during the recent cycle of high tides over the last week or so, have you experienced or observed significant coastal flooding anywhere in the San Juan Islands? This is where salt water was high enough to flood structures, cover roads, or damage or impact other infrastructure in a problematic way?

If yes, we'd love to hear about it here in the comments. Location, pictures, and info would be ideal. You can also email us at [email protected].

Thanks so much for your help!

12/12/2025

UPDATE ON SKAGIT COUNTY FLOODING and ROAD IMPACTS: Flood waters in Skagit County are slowly beginning to recede. While the high water was somewhat less than originally forecast, record flooding has impacted the Skagit River Valley.

A live road closure map is being maintained by Skagit County and is available at: https://skagitcounty.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/atlas/index.html?appid=f8b09048f89c4762b65b4d7fa0615b02&webmap=8dfa486c6e1045f7829555c5b6bc7f72

12/10/2025

IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR ISLANDERS - PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD: Island residents and businesses who are planning on mainland travel this week should be aware that the flooding forecast for Skagit County may impact both Highway 20 and I-5.

The peak of the flooding in Mt. Vernon is currently forecast to occur at 4am on Friday December 12th. It is not clear exactly when flooding could impact the highways, but it could potentially occur during the day on Thursday December 11th.

Islanders are strongly encouraged to delay non-critical travel until after the flooding has receded and it has been confirmed that the roads are open. Road conditions are available on the WSDOT map at: https://wsdot.com/Travel/Real-time/Map/

While the water is forecast to go down fairly quickly, if roads are impacted, it may be some time until roads open depending on the severity and duration of the impacts.

Skagit County Emergency Info is online at: https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/EmergencyInformation/main.htm

12/09/2025

Current forecast is for near record flooding on the Skagit River in Mount Vernon later this week and into the weekend. We'll see how things shape up, there's lots of variability in these predictions, but send good thoughts to our neighbors in Skagit County. Updates from Skagit County are here: https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/EmergencyInformation/main.htm

Here in the islands, forecast is significantly less worrisome, though it is going to rain quite a bit Tuesday night into Thursday. Locations that are prone to small stream or surface flooding should make sure that culverts and drains are clear before the rain starts and be alert to potential flooding during any periods of especially intense and prolonged rainfall.

As always, www.islandsready.org is a great source of info for islanders about how to prepare for emergencies of all kinds.

11/12/2025

Over 40 San Juan County, WA staff gathered this morning to practice emergency response coordination at the County's Emergency Operations Center (also known as the Marie Boe Building at the Fairgrounds). Great opportunity to work through an array of contingency plans and communication strategies.

10/23/2025

Earlier this month San Juan County WA Department of Emergency Management staff gathered in Bellingham with over 200 responders and leadership personnel from NW WA to simulate a major oil spill impacting the N end of the San Juan Islands.

A great team of islanders were there, including folks from Orcas Island Fire and Rescue, The Whale Museum, Islands' Oil Spill Association, the San Juan County Derelict Vessel Program, and elected Council Member Justin Paulsen from Orcas Island.

Great way to remind ourselves of why preventing oil spills is so important, and the good work that results when groups of islanders gather to work together with a cooperative and friendly spirit!