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Northwestern US battered by huge storm

Cary Fisher, right, shows neighbors the damage to his house from fallen trees on Friday morning after Thursday night's storm in Edmonds, Washington state. PHOTO: AP

The worst windstorm in more than a decade tore through the northwestern US, leaving more than a million people without power and killing at least six.

Winds gusted to a record 111kph about 1am on Friday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, breaking the old mark of 105kph set in 1993. Winds were clocked at 145kph near Westport, on the coast.

Power was knocked out at one of the airport's concourses until late on Friday morning. Dozens of flights were canceled, including all of the American Airlines service through the morning hours.

Flights were also canceled at Portland International Airport in Oregon, and the Amtrak passenger train service was canceled between Seattle and Portland after downed trees and mudslides blocked the tracks.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer went unpublished for the first time since a 1936 labor strike, because electricity was knocked out at its printing press, managing editor David McCumber said.

The Seattle Times, which shares the press, had only about 13,000 copies available on Friday morning. Late on Friday, a Times' spokeswoman said yesterday's editions of both papers would be delivered.

Seattle public schools were closed on Friday, as were numerous smaller school systems.

A 41-year-old Seattle woman died on Thursday after she became trapped in her basement while it flooded. Neighbors had called for help after they heard screaming.

A 28-year-old man was killed while he slept when the top of a tree snapped off and crashed into his home in a trailer park in McCleary, 29km west of Olympia.

Elsewhere in Washington state, two people died in traffic accidents involving windblown trees.

And on the Oregon coast, an elderly couple died in a house fire caused by candles they were using during a power outage.

It was the most intense storm to hit the region since a storm on Jan. 20, 1993 that killed five people and caused about US$130 million in damage.
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