Storm Kills 4, Cuts Power to millions in Pacific Northwest
Pastor Dale Morgan
Dec 15, 10:52 PM EST
*Storm Kills 4, Cuts Power to millions in Pacific Northwest*
SEATTLE (AP) -- The worst windstorm in more than a decade tore through
the Pacific Northwest, leaving more than a million people without power
Friday and killing at least four. Winds gusted to a record 69 mph about
1 a.m. at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, breaking the old mark of
65 mph set in 1993. Winds were clocked at 90 mph near Westport on the coast.
Power was knocked out at one of the airport's concourses until late
Friday morning. Dozens of flights were canceled, including all American
Airlines service through the morning hours. Flights were also canceled
at Portland International Airport in Oregon, and Amtrak canceled service
between Seattle and Portland after downed trees and mudslides blocked
the tracks.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer went unpublished for the first time since
a 1936 labor strike, because electricity was knocked out at its printing
press, managing editor David McCumber said. The Seattle Times, which
shares the press, had only about 13,000 copies available Friday morning.
Seattle public schools were closed Friday, as were numerous smaller
school systems and The Evergreen State College in Olympia.
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.
A 28-year-old man was killed while he slept when the top of a tree
snapped off and crashed into his home in a trailer park in McCleary, 18
miles west of Olympia.
Elsewhere in Washington, two people died in traffic accidents involving
windblown trees.
In Oregon, a family of six was sickened by carbon monoxide from a
generator set up in a garage after the storm knocked out power, police
said Friday. Four children and two adults were hospitalized, and two of
the children were in critical condition, police spokeswoman Teddi
Anderson said.
Puget Sound Energy, Washington's largest private utility, had 700,000
customers without power on Friday. Some won't have their lights back on
for days, spokesman Roger Thompson said.
In Oregon, about 350,000 customers lost power, and repairs to restore
all of them could stretch into next week, utility officials said.
The Oregon Department of Transportation closed three major highways
crossing the Cascade Range because of fallen trees or downed power lines.
The Evergreen Point floating bridge, which links Seattle and its eastern
suburbs, was closed early Friday for minor repairs, but reopened before
the evening commute. The Hood Canal floating bridge, which links
Washington's Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas, and the Tacoma Narrows
Bridge were reopened early Friday after being closed Thursday evening
because of heavy winds.
It was the most intense storm to hit the region since the Inauguration
Day storm of Jan. 20, 1993, which killed five people and caused about
$130 million in damage, said Clifford F. Mass, a University of
Washington atmospheric sciences professor.
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Associated Press writers Donna Gordon Blankinship in Seattle, Curt
Woodward in University Place, Wash., and Tim Fought in Portland, Ore.,
contributed to this story.