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High winds, rain lash Pacific Northwest a second day
CNN | - |
(CNN)
High winds and rain whipped Oregon and Washington for a second straight
day Saturday, downing trees and wires, causing flooding and knocking
out power for nearly 53,000 customers in the coastal regions of the
Pacific Northwest.
High winds, rain lash Pacific Northwest a second day
Story highlights
- Power companies say some 53,000 customers lost power
- "The whole building was shaking," says an Oregon man after a tornado
(CNN)High
winds and rain whipped Oregon and Washington for a second straight day
Saturday, downing trees and wires, causing flooding and knocking out
power for nearly 53,000 customers in the coastal regions of the Pacific
Northwest.
The fierce storm spawned by Typhoon Songda put 33,000 customers in the dark in the Portland area, Portland General Electric reported at 3 p.m. (6 p.m. ET).
Around 6 p.m., Puget Sound Energy said 16,838 customers lost power and Seattle City & Light tweeted 3,000 power outages in southeast Seattle were caused by a fallen tree.
The
National Weather Service said winds reached 70-80 mph along the Oregon
coast and 45-55 mph in the Portland area Saturday. The Portland Bureau
of Transportation tweeted around 4:45 p.m. (7:45 p.m. ET) that 34 trees
were down on roads.
So far, no deaths have been reported.
The winds lost some power in
the afternoon and the weather service canceled high-wind warnings for
the Oregon coast around 4 p.m. (7 p.m. ET). A wind advisory for south
Willamette Valley was lifted.
Seattle braced for winds to
move up the Washington coast. The city hunkered down by shutting its
parks, preparing emergency resources and opening more slots at homeless
shelters.
Early Saturday, emergency
workers were treating a 4-year-old boy with serious injuries and his
father for minor injuries after they were struck by a falling tree
branch. They were transported to Harborview Medical Center.
"Damaging
winds will still be possible across the Seattle metro region, but will
experience gusts between 50 to 60 miles per hour," aid CNN Meteorologist
Derek Van Dam.
Storms were expected to hit when the Seattle Seahawks play the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon.
To
the south, winds of 45 mph were reported in the Sacramento Valley in
California and high gusts were reported as far south as Las Vegas,
Nevada.
Two confirmed tornadoes
The
National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes touched down Friday in
the northwest Oregon coastal cities of Manzanita and Oceanside.
Judson
Moore of Manzanita told KOIN he looked outside and saw "a wall of water
and debris coming up the street." He and his wife locked themselves in a
bathroom.
"The pressure changed.
You could almost feel the suction and the whole building was shaking,"
he said. "I could hear the neighborhood just being torn apart."
It lasted 30 seconds, he said. They weren't hurt and their business was not badly damaged.
Jane Wannell of Manzanita weathered the storm well.
"I always have my camping equipment ready because we lost power," she told KOIN.
"So I was able to cook nice meals yesterday. The utility people were
amazing! We got power back at 8 o'clock last night. That was an amazing
gift to us."
First responders
searched the Mazanita area but have not found anyone trapped under the
debris, Tillamook County Sheriff Andy Long told CNN.
The
tornadoes damaged 25-30 homes, Gordon McCraw with Tillamook County
Emergency Management told CNN. Video and photos showed uprooted trees,
toppled telephone poles and ruffled rooftops.
The Coast Guard rescued 40
teenagers and six adults near Lake Crescent, Washington, Coast Guard
Petty Officer Ali Flockerzi told CNN.
The
group was stranded at their camp without power and was blocked in by
falling trees, Flockerzi said. The Coast Guard deployed a 29-foot rescue
boat to take them to safety, Flockerzi said.
The National Weather
Service's Portland office said it broke its record for the most tornado
warnings in a day, issuing 10 on Friday.
It has issued a high wind warning
for the marine area from Washington's Cape Shoalwater to Oregon's
Cascade Head from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. PDT. It warned of winds of 50-60
mph with gusts of up to 80 mph.
Saturday's
fierce weather may not be the end of it. A third storm could
potentially pass through the Pacific Northwest next week, according CNN
Meteorologist Dave Hennen.
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