Storm Pummels Northwest Wind Damage, Power Outages All Along Coast

High winds raced north along the Pacific coast to Washington state Tuesday, causing widespread power outages and disrupting ferry service.

More than 171,000 residents lost power throughout Western Washington. High winds also forced cancellation of several ferry runs in the Puget Sound area.

“This is a get-your-candles-ready kind of storm,” said Bob Salmon, public works director in Aberdeen, Wash.

Sustained winds of 70-80 mph pummeled the Hood Canal Bridge linking the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, forcing the bridge to close Tuesday night.

Winds of up to 120 mph blasted Oregon’s coast, and San Francisco Bay was struck by 100 mph gusts. At least five people were killed by falling trees in northern California and two people died when trees fell on their vehicles in Oregon - one near Forest Grove and another in Florence.

The wind reached 102 mph at Cape Blanco, Ore., and waves crashed 20 feet high against the jetty at Port Orford.

“We’re scared spitless,” said Castaways Motel manager Linda Berte as she watched the ocean in Port Orford. “It was terrifying. It was the most horrifying sight I’ve ever seen.”

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was closed to tractor-trailers after the wind caused a truck to jackknife, leaving it teetering on the edge.

Other trucks overturned on highways and bridges in Northern California and Oregon.

At least 205,000 people lost power in Oregon. In California, more than 669,000 homes and businesses lost power at the height of the storm.

Washington residents prepared by stocking up on canned goods, flashlights, candles, tarps and other storm gear. Schools were closed or let out early in most parts of Western Washington, including the Seattle district, where 46,500 students went home two hours early.

Puget Power reported at least 71,000 customers in nine counties without power. About 45,000 were in Thurston County and about 22,000 were in King County, spokeswoman Kristen Wappler said.

Scattered outages were also reported in Skagit, Whatcom and Pierce counties, including some on the Olympic Peninsula, she said.

At least 4,000 customers of the Snohomish Public Utility District were without power while another 4,000 people, primarily in the Ocean Shores area, lost power in Grays Harbor County.

Falling trees closed Washington 115, the main route in and out of Ocean Shores.

High winds prompted the state Department of Transportation to close the Washington 520 bridge across Lake Washington Tuesday evening. The bridge is one of two that link Seattle with its eastern suburbs. The Interstate 90 bridge remained open.

Passenger-only ferry service linking Seattle with Bremerton and Vashon Island was halted. Car ferry service linking Edmonds and Kingston was canceled, as was the Port Townsend-Keystone route and service was reduced to one boat on the Seattle-Bainbridge Island run, Snyder said.

Rush hour in the Seattle area started two hours early Tuesday evening as commuters left work to beat the storm.

A Portland marina with about 40 boats attached broke loose on the Columbia River and was swept across to Vancouver, Wash.

The Mount St. Helens visitors centers were closed in southwest Washington, and the public was warned to stay out of the surrounding Gifford Pinchot National Forest until the danger of falling trees, swollen streams and blocked roads was past.

McChord Air Force Base south of Tacoma flew 31 of its C-141 cargo planes to March Air Force Base in California to get them out of the storm’s path.

In Olympia, Gov. Mike Lowry told all state agency directors to send non-emergency employees home. Oregon’s governor, John Kitzhaber took similar action.

“At a time like this, we must err on the side of human safety,” Lowry said.

Cities put extra crews on standby to clear the expected debris from roads and to restore power. Seattle’s parks and recreation centers and public libraries were being kept open so children would have a safe place to gather.

The American Red Cross placed shelters in Clark, Cowlitz, Island, King, Lewis, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, Whatcom and Yakima counties on standby along with 13 emergency response vehicles.

The state’s worst weather disaster in terms of dollar loss was the Inaugural Day windstorm of 1993, with more than $159 million in property damage. More than 2,300 homes were damaged and 750,000 people were without electricity after the storm roared through Western Washington.