Comcast is preparing for something we all hope won’t happen, potential flooding in the Green River Valley related to the Howard Hanson Dam. You’ll find more information about the overall situation at the links below. If there is flooding, you will find updates from Comcast at this page.
Comcast has done a comprehensive study of the impacts that flooding would cause on its network and ability to provide service to its customers in the Green River Valley. We believe that even with major flooding in the Valley, our network would continue to function normally in all areas outside the flood zone.
In other words, flooding should not hamper our network or our ability to provide services to our customers who live outside the immediate flood zone. Our network would continue to function normally because all major Comcast network facilities such as call centers, head ends and local network management centers are located on high ground outside the Valley and the flood zone.
While no major network facilities are located within the Valley, Comcast maintains miles of fiber optic and coaxial cable lines that serve homes and businesses within the valley. Comcast also operates a cable store and dispatch center in Auburn where Comcast technicians who serve the Valley’s customers are based. In case of flooding, many of these technicians would be temporarily based at our Puyallup facilities.
Flooding could hamper Comcast’s ability to provide service to its customers in the Valley due to flooded road closures and potential loss of power. However, it is important to note that Comcast’s cable system historically has continued to operate in areas of major flooding. For example, Comcast’s network equipment suffered no damage during major flooding in Centralia, Chehalis, Snoqualmie, Fall City and Carnation in recent years, despite the fact, that in some cases, the company’s equipment was completely underwater.
If service is disrupted in flooded areas, how soon service would be restored would depend on the extent of the flood damage and how quickly Comcast crews would be allowed back into the area to assess damage and make repairs. Comcast repair crews are prevented by law from working in a damaged area until after the power company has repaired its line, and the area has been declared safe for crews to work in. We believe that service could be restored relatively quickly, because there are no major Comcast network facilities located within the flood zone and because most of our equipment in the flood zone is located well above ground on telephone poles.
If you would like more information, there are a growing number of Websites related to the Green River situation. We participate in a King County planning group that encourages everyone to begin with the official information from King County One place people go for a variety of information is Twitter; a page dedicated to various news sources that would communicate about Green River flooding may be found here.
There are a number of links also available from the Puget Sound Energy page about the Green River Valley situation.
