SEATTLE (AP) — A major storm swept across the northwest U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain, causing widespread power outages and downing trees that killed at least one person.
The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect as the strongest — a large plume of moisture — that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season overwhelmed the region. The storm system that hit starting Tuesday is considered a “ ,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly. Falling trees struck homes and littered roads across northwest Washington.
In Lynnwood, Washington, a woman died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, South County Fire said in a statement on X. In Seattle, a tree fell onto a vehicle, temporarily trapping a person inside, the Seattle Fire Department reported. The agency later said the individual was in stable condition.
A 70-year-old tree fell on Wendy Harrington’s home in Issaquah, Washington, and she told KOMO-TV that she thought a whole wall was coming down. “It felt explosive, like there was a bomb going off,” Harrington said. “Everything was just very loud.
” Early Wednesday, over 600,000 houses in Washington State were reported to be without power on . But the number of outage reports had fluctuated wildly Tuesday evening likely due in part to several weather and utility agencies struggling to report information on the .
