High winds slam region

The lights should be back on this morning in Seattle. But thousands of people in outlying areas hoping to watch the Super Bowl at home may be out of luck.

The worst windstorm since 1999 slapped Western Washington with gusts of up to 78 mph Saturday, throwing trees into rooftops, pulling boats from their moorings and leaving more than 200,000 people without power.

There was one fatality from the storm: Ingrid J. Davis, of Kalama, Cowlitz County, died when a tree struck her car as she was driving on Highway 4 near the Wahkiakum / Cowlitz county line.

The storm hit the coast Friday night, bringing winds as high as 50 mph and gusts of 60 mph on average. The Hood Canal Bridge was closed. Ferry service was halted between Port Townsend and Keystone.

By Saturday morning, the storm had caught Seattle's attention. It shut down the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge for the first time in seven years and left thousands of people in Magnolia, Ballard and Lake Forest Park without power.

Even the "12th man" flag was missing from its perch on the Space Needle. Officials had taken it down Friday, in anticipation of the storm. They planned to raise it again before the Super Bowl.

"We didn't want it to get tattered," said Mary Bacarella, a spokeswoman for the Space Needle. "It needs to look good for tomorrow."

By Saturday afternoon, there was blue sky over Seattle. But as the storm moved east, a blizzard warning remained in effect for the Cascades, where the National Weather Service is expecting up to 18 inches of snow.

Seattle City Light reported 28,000 outages at the height of the storm in neighborhoods from Queen Anne to Ballard. Spokesman Dan Williams said he expected power to be restored by Saturday night.

By Saturday afternoon, Magnolia Ace Hardware had already sold out of flashlights and some batteries. The crew at nearby Szmania's restaurant spent most of the day in the dark, hoping the power would come back in time to honor dozens of Saturday-night dinner reservations.

Puget Sound Energy, which serves most of Western Washington, reported 140,000 outages as of Saturday afternoon. The hardest-hit areas, including Island, Jefferson and Kitsap counties, should prepare for a multiple-day outage, said Lynn Carlson, a Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman.

"That includes making alternate plans for Super Bowl viewing," she said.

Snohomish County Public Utility District had 30,000 households without power. But with help from crews from Eastern Washington, it had reduced that number by half Saturday afternoon.

Tonia Linn had no power in her Lynnwood home on Saturday. But that was the least of her worries. Just before dawn Saturday, she woke up to the sound of an 85-foot hemlock tree falling into the roof of her duplex.

"I thought someone was driving a vehicle right through our house," Linn said.

The state's Emergency Management Division urged homeowners Saturday to look first at their insurance policies to pay for the damage before calling local emergency-management offices. Most insurance policies will cover wind and wind-related rain damage, officials said. And federal disaster aid kicks in only when people are uninsured and the damage is done to a primary residence.

The storm made its mark on homes across Western Washington. In Kitsap County, a landslide carried two summer homes into the water. And houses in West Seattle along the Sound were flooded.

State troopers closed all southbound lanes of Interstate 5 for an hour near Lynnwood, where a wind-blown freeway sign dangled off the 164th Street Southwest overpass at 11:20 a.m. Traffic backed up four miles, as motorists squeezed onto an exit ramp to go around the area.

Gusts of up to 60 mph were heaving waves of Lake Washington across the 520 bridge when the state closed it to traffic at 9:20 a.m. and opened the drawspan to ease pressure from winds and waves smacking the bridge broadside.

"The bridge had a lot of sway and it was moving like a vessel," said Rick Rodda, the state's assistant bridge superintendent for the northwest region. "When you're in the tower, it feels like you're in a continuous earthquake."

The rest of Saturday became a waiting game for the winds to die down so that crews could make repairs and reopen the span. The Hood Canal Bridge had reopened earlier in the day, and ferry service between Port Townsend and Keystone had resumed.

Ferry captains used "weather routes" between Seattle and Bremerton, adding a few minutes onto their trips but reducing the effects of the storm.

"I don't think we made anyone seasick," said Darrell Kimmerly, captain of the ferry Kitsap.

The sea swelled up to five feet in some places, but that was not enough to impress Kimmerly. He spent years on ocean tugboats in the Gulf of Alaska, watching waves rise 40 feet.

"That's a separate world, thank God," he said. "That's why I'm home on ferry boats."

The Coast Guard spent much of the day investigating 18 loose boats the wind had scattered on the water in Puget Sound. Officials confirmed that no one was on board. The storm had ripped most of the boats from their moorings; some were floating with their docks attached.

One dock still carried a grill and a picnic table.

"They did a good job tying it up," said Petty Officer Denys Rivas. "Guess they didn't plan on the dock leaving."

Up in the mountains Saturday, Summit at Snoqualmie spokesman Guy Lawrence said the ski area had to shut down a few chairs because of high winds.

Otherwise, he said, the storm's snow was welcome. Skiers managed to make it to the slopes with help from state Department of Transportation plowing crews dispatched from other parts of the state.

"So far the crews are keeping up with it masterfully," said Transportation Department spokesman Mark Ettesvold.

Highway 112 was one of several roads under repair Saturday afternoon, a fact that made some people in the village of Neah Bay, Clallam County, nervous. Their power went out Friday night. And that road is the only one out of town.

Lt. Jerry Lucas of the Neah Bay Police Department spent Saturday fielding calls from Seahawks fans.

"They don't want to be stuck with no power, no game, and no way out of here," Lucas said.

All around the village, he said, there were questions — about who had a generator, who had satellite television, and whether maybe, just maybe, the power would switch back on Saturday night, so that no one would have to worry about it.

In all the confusion, there was one piece of good news: After one of the wettest seasons on record, the National Weather Service released a forecast for Western Washington that called for sunshine.

Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com.

Karen Gaudette: 206-515-5618 or kgaudette@seattletimes.com.

Staff reporter Christopher Schwarzen contributed to this report.