A rainstorm with wind gusts up to 115 mph hit western Washington yesterday, knocking down trees and power lines.  It left over 300,000 without power for many hours, some still without.  At least 3 deaths were reported from fallen trees, one even as far as Spokane (on the eastern side of the state) as they got hit too.  Rivers throughout the Puget Sound flooded, causing even more damage.

James takes the train into Seattle, and his 1-hour commute home turned into a 4-hour nightmare. They had to evacuate the train half-way due to a fallen tree on the tracks.  All the passengers then had to walk to the nearest bus stop where the winds were whipping around them, all while watching trees fall down on transponders which then caused the transponders to explode.  Not my idea of a fun night.

Today is the calm after the storm… no wind, no rain.  Nothing but a huge mess to clean up.  Our power came back on after 18 hours, just in time before my fish froze to death (my oto/sucker fish turned completely white).  School was cancelled, and I minimally went into work.  I love living among a whole bunch of trees; however, when the wind blows, they can be quite lethal.

Needless to say… I did not get my 3-mile run done yesterday, but I did manage to cross-train on Monday… 😉

This power pole snapped in half. The wires from it now stand only about 8 feet off the ground.

Typical storm debris and fallen branches.

The ground is saturated. Hence, an uprooted tree from the wind.

Another uprooted tree… this one was huge…

These people are lucky this tree wasn’t closer to their house.

More fallen trees and debris in the road.

The next weather system is due to hit the Oregon coast and southern Washington.  Brace yourselves people… when they say be prepared, then be prepared, because they aren’t kidding.