||| FROM KOMO NEWS |||

EDMONDS, Wash. — The busy Edmonds-Kingston ferry run remains down to one boat service Monday as crews continue to repair the M/V Puyallup after it was struck by lightning on Saturday afternoon, leaving travelers stuck with delays into a third days.

The bolt hit during a thunderstorm Saturday evening just as the ferry was near the dock in Edmonds, damaging the navigation system and knocking a ferry worker over.

It was the last boat run of her shift, and Leslie Saber never anticipated the shockwave from lightning would knock her down to her knees. Saber had been standing on the passenger overhead walkway, when she says the lightning pummeled the Puyallup ferry and the walkway she was standing on.

“This incredible boom happened and echoed through the tunnel and I had a moment to register what it was, and the soundwave just knocked me to my knees and I stayed there for a bit,” Saber told KOMO News. “It really shook me off.”

Some of the light covers and light bulbs in the terminal even exploded.

Broken lights on the M/V Puyallup. (Photo: Leslie Saber)

 

Chris Vagasky with Vaisala says their lightning detection equipment registered the bolt that struck the Puyallup to have delivered 133,000 amps.

“For reference, most electrical outlets are 15 amps,” Vagasky tweeted.

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