Many in Western Washington still without power

SEATTLE (AP) — The stormy weather blew out of Washington on Friday morning but left behind the risk of landslides and tens of thousands of residents without power. The effects of a wet week lingered, with the possibility of debris flows Friday in western Washington, the National Weather Service said. One mudslide hit railroad tracks near Edmonds. Howling winds overnight reached 49 mph at Sea-Tac Airport, 62 mph at Paine Field in Everett and 69 at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, the weather service reported. The gusts knocked trees onto power lines, at one point leaving more than 170,000 utility customers in the dark. The largest utility in the area, Bellevue-based Puget Sound Energy, said crews worked through the night to restore power. About 45,000 outages remained by 8 a.m. The Everett-based Snohomish County Public Utility District reduced its outages to 15,000 Friday morning. Tacoma Public Utilities reported about 100 remaining, and Seattle City Light responded to about 2,400 outages. Winds also brought down scaffolding at a six-story apartment building under construction in Redmond. A falling tree hit a propane tank and started a fire at the Red Wind Casino near Olympia. Firefighters kept the tank from exploding, and there was minimal damage to the casino. A mudslide hit Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks at 12:30 a.m. Friday near Edmonds. The tracks were cleared and freight trains resumed running at 3 a.m., spokesman Gus Melonas said. But a 48-hour safety moratorium will prevent passenger trains from rolling between Seattle and Everett this weekend. Buses will bridge the service. Amtrak says passenger service between Seattle and Everett will resume Sunday. Sound Transit says Sounder commuter train service will resume Monday, if no other events occur. Pounding waves on the Washington coast have taken huge chunks of land at the aptly named Washaway Beach near Grayland. A house that succumbed to surf Wednesday was the third one this week. Forecasters expect a calmer weekend with some sunshine and a return next week to occasional rain showers and mountain snow across the state.