December 15, 2006
AP
SEATTLE - About 1.5 million homes and businesses in Washington and Oregon had no power early Friday after howling windstorms and heavy rains caused at least three deaths, closed two major bridges and sparked flooding.
Photo: Work crews clear a snapped tree that landed on power lines along Issaquah-Pine Lake Road on the Sammamish Plateau. Power was out for portions of Sammamish and Issaquah. (Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times)
One of the concourses at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was without electricity, and an airport spokesman said some flights likely would be canceled.
A 41-year-old Seattle woman died Thursday after she became trapped in her basement while it flooded. Neighbors had called for help after they heard screaming.
Also in Washington, two people died in traffic accidents involving windblown trees.
Colder temperatures were expected Friday as the storm passed and winds calmed, bringing heavy snow to lower elevations.
'TOO HAIRY OUT THERE'
About 700,000 customers of Puget Sound Energy were in the dark early Friday and about three-fourths of the circuits were down in the company’s nine-county service area, spokesman Roger Thompson said.
When repair crews were sent to assess damage “they’ve had to pull back,” Thompson said. “It’s just been too hairy out there.”
Some customers won’t have their lights back on for days, he said.
Other utilities reported about 300,000 customers without power.
The Hood Canal Floating Bridge, which links Washington’s Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas, and the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, which links Seattle and its eastern suburbs, were closed because of high wind gusts. The Hood Canal bridge was reopened Friday after about nine hours.
In Oregon, Portland General Electric reported that power had been lost to about 245,000 of its customers — about 30 percent of its service territory.
“That shows you the effect of the combination of wind and downed trees can have,” said Mark Fryburg, a PGE spokesman.
Pacific Power, which covers most of the rest of the state, reported 105,000 customers had lost electricity by Thursday night.
MAJOR HIGHWAYS, SCHOOLS CLOSED
The Oregon Department of Transportation closed three major highways crossing the Cascade Range because of fallen trees or downed power lines, and winds gusted past 90 mph on the Oregon coast.
The National Weather Service said rainfall was expected to be as high as 8 inches on the coast and 5 inches in the Cascade Range, with snow at higher elevations.
Photo: Neighbor Erik Guttridge tries to clear a drain on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South at South Judkins Street after knee-deep water blocked the road. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)
Rain drenched Qwest Field in Seattle just before kickoff of the NFL game between the Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. The rain left standing water on the field, and about 30 minutes before kickoff, a power surge briefly knocked out the large video screens at both ends of the stadium.
Seattle public schools were closed Friday, as were numerous smaller school systems and The Evergreen State College in Olympia.
© 2006 The Associated Press.
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