Storm in US Pacific Northwest causes flooding in Seattle

At least two people were killed in Washington state and about 360,000 homes and businesses in the Seattle-area were without power on Tuesday (November 17) as a storm packing powerful winds downed trees and triggered mudslides, local authorities said.

On Wednesday (November 18) roadways, homes and farms were swamped as a wide swath of the Puget Sound region remained under flood watches and warnings through the afternoon, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

The storm, which packed wind gusts up to 49 miles per hour (79 kph), toppled trees and power lines, leaving roads littered with debris. At least two people were confirmed to have died in storm-related accidents, authorities said.

King County, in which Seattle is located, reported moderate flooding for the Snoqualmie River, which runs through the county.

A motorist was killed near the city of Monroe, northeast of Seattle, when a rain-soaked tree fell from a cliff onto the driver's car, said Snohomish County fire chief Merlin Halverson. In Spokane, in eastern Washington, local police said a fallen tree had landed on a woman, killing her. The Seattle Times reports a third person died in the same area when a downed tree struck her car.

More than 360,000 customers were without power in the Puget Sound region, a local utilities reported late on Tuesday. Puget Sound Energy, which supplies customers in parts of Seattle and its suburbs, reported about 210,000 outages late on Tuesday.

To the north, in Snohomish County, the public utility district said about 150,000 customers were left without power after a "huge windblast," the utility said.

The NWS has forecast rain and wind for much of the week.  — Reuters