High winds cause power outages, damage throughout Snohomish County

Published 10:17 pm Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour Tuesday caused power outages and damage throughout Snohomish County.

Limbs were knocking into power lines and an entire tree crashed into a home east of Lynnwood.

Just before 11:30 a.m., a 60-foot hemlock fell on a double-wide mobile home in the 20100 block of Filbert Road, Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said.

Two adults and five dogs were inside the home. They all got out safely, she said. The Red Cross was helping the people who lived there find another place to stay.

In the Lake Stevens area, nearly 1,000 homes and businesses lost power about 10:30 a.m., Snohomish County PUD spokesman Mike Thorne said.

About 3,000 homes and business in western Marysville and Quil Ceda Village and in the Three Lakes area of Snohomish lost power just after 10 a.m., Thorne said. Power in those areas was swiftly restored, he said.

Some 20,000 customers were without power at one point in the day, Thorne said. Winds began to quiet down closer to the evening.

Crews Tuesday evening were still working to return power to about 2,500 homes, mainly in Everett and east Snohomish County, he said.

State Department of Transportation officials closed Stevens Pass for a few hours to clear avalanche danger. The highway reopened in the afternoon. It was snowing and traction tires were advised over the pass.