Delays at Sea-Tac because of outage; other transportation notes

A power outage shut down most air traffic at Seattle Tacoma International Airport for a time this afternoon.

Rachel Garson, SeaTac spokeswoman, said there is still a delay in departures and arrivals but that things are slowly getting back to normal at the airport. She said the FAA has worked through the power outage and all flights are expected to be on schedule by the end of the night.

Air, road, ferry and rail travel to and around Seattle is snarled because of the storm.

Here's a rundown of the impacts.

Sea-Tac Airport

There were extensive delays and cancellations during the busy 6.30-8.30 a.m. period and delays were expected to last throughout the day as the airport gets back to normal.

The power outages prevented many American and Delta flights from arriving at Sea-Tac in the early morning hours, which resulted in numerous morning cancellations.

"A lot of the morning, departures didn't happen, and that was either because they didn't have an aircraft here because it didn't land overnight or because they didn't have baggage handling, " said airport spokeswoman Rachel Garson. And "there were lots of delays."

American Airlines Spokesman Tim Smith said the airline cancelled all 22 of it morning and midday flights to and from from Sea-Tac Aiport Friday because of the high winds and power outages, leaving the airline with few planes on the ground at the airport.

"Nothing has operated so far," he said at midday on Friday.

Smith said the airline planned to send four or five jets to Seattle late this afternoon to shuttle stranded passengers to hubs in Chicago and Dallas/Ft. Worth, so they can make connections to their final destinations. Flight bookings were light Friday, which means many open seats may be available on flights due to leave Seattle later in the day, he said.

But Smith warned that if weather conditions deteriorate again tonight — a prospect relayed to him by the airline's forecasters — operations may be disrupted again.

"We feel like at this moment we can clear out most of the people who are still waiting" at Sea-Tac, Smith said.

The windstorm knocked out power to the south end of the airport's main terminal around 1.30 a.m. Friday, including ticketing counters, several baggage-claim carousels and the baggage handling area, as well as the A gates, where American and Delta airlines flights arrive and depart. The South Satellite, which his connected to the main terminal by a subway, also briefly lost power but electricity was restored with back-up generators, Garson said.

Garson wasn't able to give an estimate on the number of flights affected but said "thousands" of travelers were stranded Friday morning and delays were likely to last throughout the day as the airport returned to normal.

The airport called in extra staff to help deal with lines of stranded passengers, many of whom tried to book alternate flights on airlines that were operating smoothly. Employees handed out bottles of water to travelers, in part because many restaurants and shops also were without power.

Travelers should call their airline to check their flight's status before heading to the airport.

Travelers also can check the airport's real-time flight information online at http://hosting.portseattle.org/fids/Get general airport information and updates at www.portseattle.org/seatac

Roads

Roads are closed throughout Western Washington because of downed trees and washouts (although the Highway 520 floating bridge reopened this afternoon). Some of the major closures as of 11.30 a.m.

• Highway 2 eastbound is closed at milepost 49 (between Sky Lane and Beckler Road) because of debris on the road.

• State Route 524 eastbound is closed at State Route 9 because of debris on the roadway.

Get updates on road closures in the Seattle area and beyond through the Department of Transportation: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/trafficalerts/ Or phone 511, the Department of Transportation's state-wide travel information line for roads and more.

In King County, an estimated 35 roads the county maintains are closed because of downed trees, and traffic signals are out in many areas because of power outages. The King County Road Services Division advised motorists to use extreme caution in driving and never to drive through deep standing water. Get details on King County road closures at: www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/roads/roadalert/

Some good news: the Hood Canal Bridge, Tacoma Narrows and I-90 bridge across Lake Washington all are open. And traffic on Interstate-5 was moving normally. However, many traffic Web cams around the Puget Sound area are not working because of power outages.

Ferries

High winds caused delays and cancellations of some state ferries. The ferry between Port Townsend and Keystone on Whidbey Island is expected to run late all day (it's on a storm route which adds about 15 minutes to each sailing). The passenger-only service between Vashon and Seattle was canceled Friday morning; it was hoped it would resume for the evening commute. Get updates at Washington State Ferries: www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/ To get information phone the statewide travel information line, 511, or phone 888-808-7977.

In Skagit County, car-ferry service to Guemes Island was halted after the county-run ferry broke loose from its mooring during the windstorm. The ferry drifted down Guemes Channel, but was retrieved and returned to its slip; it's expected to return to service this afternoon after being inspected for damage. More information: www.skagitcounty.net/ or 360-336-9400.

Amtrak

Amtrak has canceled all trains between Seattle and Portland on Friday because of weather-related problems, mostly mudslides on the tracks. However, Amtrak expects to operate trains on the route normally on Saturday. Get updates at www.amtrak.com or phone 800-USA-RAIL (say "agent" to bypass all the automated options and get a real person). Buses are being substituted for the trains between the two cities.

Amtrak's Coast Starlight train arrived early Friday morning about a dozen hours late on its route from the Los Angeles area to Seattle. However, service between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. was operating normally on Friday.