SEATTLE — Fierce winds downed trees and power lines across Western Washington and Oregon on Saturday, leaving at least 160,000 homes and businesses in the dark.
A Kalama woman, Ingrid J. Davis, 38, died while driving near the Wahkiakum-Cowlitz County line in southwest Washington when a tree fell on her car, the Washington State Patrol reported.
There were no immediate reports of other deaths, injuries or widespread property damage. But traffic had to be diverted off some roads in the region because of flooding, shifting or sinking asphalt, falling trees or downed power lines.
The storm forced closure of the floating bridge that takes State Route 520 across Lake Washington east of Seattle for the first time in nearly seven years.
High water, heavy winds and a mudslide prompted a 48-hour shutdown of passenger rail service north of Seattle.
Washington State Ferries shut down the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry run connecting the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island because of choppy waters on Puget Sound.
And Seattle’s zoo shut down because of concerns that winds would topple trees.
About 20 miles south of Aberdeen, some parts of Raymond were under 2 feet of water, KBKW reported. Traffic in downtown Raymond was limited to emergency vehicles.
The National Weather Service said it had received reports of 45 mph winds in Seattle, with gusts over 50 mph in West Seattle. Gusts of more than 60 mph were reported in Jefferson County on the Olympic Peninsula.
The storm also swept across rain-battered western Oregon, where hundreds of people flocked to the coast to see high waves whipped up by the winds.
At the height of the storm, about 32,000 people in Western Oregon lost power, according to estimates provided by Portland General Electric. Crews had reduced that number to about 18,000 by early afternoon.
Washington State Ferries spokeswoman Susan Harris said service on the Port Townsend-Keystone run would not resume until the windy weather subsided.
To the east, the weather service said heavy snow and wind in the Cascades would make driving conditions “treacherous.”
A coastal flood warning will remain in effect through 6 a.m. Sunday, with swells as high as 35 feet, the agency said. Powerful waves were expected to cause “extensive beach run up, substantial erosion, and possible damage to structures along exposed shorelines,” the weather service said.
At Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, spokeswoman Gigi Allianic said the main safety concern was that trees could fall and injure visitors or damage cages and allow animals to escape. The weather service said the threat of falling trees was high because soil was saturated after a long stretch of rain.
Forecasters said the weather would begin clearing up Sunday, after a chance of early morning showers. The forecast called for partly cloudy skies throughout the rest of the week.
“We’re due for a brief break here,” said Danny Mercer, a meteorologist in the weather service’s Seattle office.