Storm Plunges Areas Into Darkness, Topples Trees

Road crews and homeowners are cleaning up after winds knocked out power to thousands of people across the Puget Sound overnight and caused problems on a number of roads blocked by toppled trees and power lines.

At the height of the storm, power was knocked out to more than 50,000 customers around Western Washington.

The hardest hit areas included Thurston, Jefferson and Kitsap Counties.

Puget Sound Energy reported nearly 40,000 outages, Cowlitz County PUD reported more than 5,000 outages, and Snohomish County PUD reported a peak of 9,000 customers without power, mostly around Arlington and Camano Island.

Seattle City Light reported scattered outages.

Wind gusts in Everett and Olympia hit 56 mph and 60 mph in Hoquiam early Monday.

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The high winds also knocked out power throughout Snohomish County and power was cut in downtown Everett.

The rain and wind also caused problems on roads across the region.

In south Seattle, rain-saturated ground toppled a utility pole onto a 26,000-volt line directly above a house on 26th Avenue South, and in West Seattle, a tree came down across the main Lincoln Park waterfront path.

In Auburn, a tree across power lines and Auburn Way South could not be cleared until power crews arrived, and in Renton, a blown transformer took out power to the neighborhood uphill from the Renton Airport.

KIRO News crews captured footage of a tree on the roof of a home on Camano Island.

Westbound state Route 18 remains closed after heavy rains last week caused the hillside to give way. On Sunday, bulldozers removed some of the dirt. The slope hadn't been stable enough for workers to evaluate the hillside until then.

DOT crews said they expect to have the lanes open by Wednesday.

Highway 2 reopened Sunday near Leavenworth after a truck-sized boulder crashed onto the road Friday, leaving a gaping hole about 5 feet deep. Crews spent Saturday blowing it up and then hauled away 12 dump truck loads of debris.

The winds have since eased, but KIRO 7 meteorologist Sam Argier said more breezy weather is expected Monday night.

Argier said a combination of an area of low pressure, strong wind and the high astronomical tide have combined to bring a coastal flood advisory through 11 a.m. for the coast around Puget Sound. Minor shoreline overflow is expected.