SEATTLE — A strong weather system brought rain and gusty winds to the state that knocked out power, blew over trees and flooded roadways.
A U.S. Coast Guard boat crew rescued three people Thursday after a 57-foot fishing vessel washed into the rocks in Squalicum Harbor near Bellingham. One of the men was hospitalized after showing signs of hypothermia and suffering a foot injury.
Brownsville Highway in Kitsap County was closed Thursday morning because of water over the road. Downed trees also forced the closure of roads throughout western Washington.
KOMO-TV reports that two homes in Lynnwood caught fire after a falling tree brought live power lines down on top of them.
At least 65,000 customers were without power as of 9:30 a.m. across the region, including more than 9,000 in Seattle.
Seattle City Lights and Puget Sound Energy said downed trees caused outages throughout the region.
The Sounder Northline trains No. 1703 and No. 1705 out of Everett were held due to trees across the tracks.
Some school districts started classes late or closed for the day due to power outages or transportation problems.
Whidbey Island Naval Air Station recorded a gust of 64 mph Thursday morning while Bellingham was hit with a 67 mph gust and Everett recorded one of 60 mph.
KOMO reports that the storm coincides with an extra high tide in the region, which could push water across some busy commuter routes in the South Sound. The city of Olympia prepared to close some roads if the tidal surge was strong enough to swamp them.
