Man killed, power cut during wet, windy storm

SEATTLE — Heavy rain and winds pummeled the Puget Sound region Tuesday, causing over 100,000 to lose power and killing a man on the Key Peninsula.

Many areas saw 40 to 50 mph wind gusts.

In Vaughn, investigators say a man in his 30s was killed while dragging away fallen branches driven down by violent winds.

“As he was working, a limb fell from a tree above him and hit him, and it was a significant limb. It was about 6 inches in diameter and fell from about 50 feet,” said Anne Nesbit with Key Peninsula Fire.

Nesbit said there were many calls of trees breaking power lines, with some even starting fires.

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“This storm has hit the peninsula pretty hard and then to have a fatality just adds to the weight of the day,” said Nesbit.

In Woodinville, a family narrowly avoided injury when a massive tree slammed though the roof while a mother and her daughter were cleaning in a room below the impact.

A 200-year-old tree was uprooted and fell on a man’s Subaru in Ballard. A crew had to remove the branches to free Jim Hull’s SUV. Hull said a burst of wind suddenly leveled tons of wood.

“I thought it was a branch. A little branch that fell on the car. I thought maybe a window broke or something,” said Hull.

Over 120,000 people were without power throughout the day, including about over 90,000 Puget Sound Energy customers.

Early Wednesday, there were about 10,000 Puget Sound customers from Bellingham to Centralia without power.

Western Washington wasn’t the only area hit hard by wind Tuesday. Part of the roof on the Ancient Lakes Elementary School gym was ripped off in Quincy. Officials blamed it on a series of microbursts.

No one was hurt.

Cox Media Group