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Damage lingers following sudden spring storm

SEATTLE — Heavy rain and winds pushing 40 mph dropped trees and downed power lines in a powerful spring storm.

Some of the biggest problems were near Green River Community College in Auburn Monday.  On Tuesday morning, storm damage still lingered.

Around 5 a.m., a security guard came out and put cones across the entrance.

Power was out and repairs took longer than expected.  All classes that started before noon at the college’s main campus in Auburn were canceled, but ones that start at or after noon will be held as usual, the school said.

Kent and Enumclaw campuses are on normal schedules.

The outage was caused by a downed tree that dropped the power lines along one row of a parking lot at the college,  blocking 20 cars in.

Inside a Taurus in the row was Debbi Hunter. She stayed in her car for three hours. Her son Jacob spoke to KIRO 7 Monday night.

"Lightning struck, the tree came down, we both jumped, she freaked out, I got out and looked," he said.

Ultimately, she did get out when she was told the power line was dead.

Damon Carter said he was in class when the power went out.

He said he and his classmates were just happy to get out of class a little early, but Carter got an unwelcome surprise.

"I went to walk to find out where the tree had came down.  And I couldn't find my car," said Carter.

It was underneath the mess of tree branches and power lines.

"I definitely had some branches hit the front of my windshield," said Carter.

The car's back window was broken and a live power line burned the roof.  Carter said he was just glad he wasn't inside the car when it happened.

Meanwhile in Silverdale, crews should start removing a massive tree Tuesday that crushed a house, trapping and burying a sleeping woman.

The wind turned the heavy tree into a giant cleaver that crashed down, sending the ceiling and roofing material on top of 49-year-old Lisa Anderson's legs and hips.

Anderson could only move her arms, but she happened to fall asleep with a phone in her hand, so she was able to call 911 for help.

Anderson had another narrow escape a few weeks ago.  She was in bed last month when a fire broke out that destroyed her home and killed her pets.  Anderson escaped.

Her insurance company temporarily put her into the home she was in when the enormous fir tree smashed through the roof.