Seattle Wind Storm

We had a huge windstorm here in Seattle on Thursday night. We knew it was coming but it was still a bit much for the city. The first problem (as always) was traffic - there was a flash flood right before the high winds so cars were getting stuck in high water and some major streets were closed. A woman reportedly died in here flooded basement too. Traffic was a mess. Once the wind started they had to shut down some of the big bridges. The first picture at left is a shot of the 520 bridge that goes across Lake Washington - you can see the waves crashing up against the bridge here. They later shut down the 520 bridge, then had to leave it closed for a while on Friday to get something fixed that had been damaged in the storm. Unfortunately this is one of only two routes to get across Lake Washington so that was a big of a problem. The next big problem were the giant trees that fell on everybody's houses (not on ours thank goodness). Here in the Northwest we've got some pretty big trees, so when they fall it can be a sight. I got some pics of it from the local newspapers to show below:














After that, everybody had to deal with electricity outages. The Microsoft campus was without power, as was most of the East side. Several people at my work lost power. Stores and malls were without power (some stayed open anyway). Lots of traffic and street lights were out. Some people are still without power even today. This means possibly no heat or hot food.

We were very lucky. No damage to our home, no electricity outages (only some flickering) and no trees fell on our car, although we did get hit in the parking lot of the grocery store on Sat afternoon - they left a note and we're getting it fixed.

I extend my thoughts to all those in the city that are still without power and I hope everyone can find warm food, heat and a shower someplace close so they can stay comfortable until their power comes back on.