08:32 PM PST on Sunday, February 5, 2006

From KING Staff and Wire Reports

SEATTLE - Many homes and businesses in Western Washington that lost power during a weekend wind storm regained electricity in time for the Super Bowl, Puget Sound Energy said Sunday, but others would have to wait a bit longer.

The utility reported that about 12,000 customers remained without power Sunday evening, down from a peak of 140,000 customers a day earlier.

Those still without power were primarily in Kitsap County, said Lynn Carlson, a Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman.

Late Sunday, crews worked to restore electricity to the bulk of the outages, Carlson said.

"More isolated, remote areas should have service again by Monday," she said.

Puget Sound Energy called in crews from Canada, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California and Nevada to make sure Seahawks fans could watch the Super Bowl on their own big screen TVs.

The National Weather Service said it had received reports of 45 mph winds in Seattle, with gusts over 50 mph in West Seattle. Gusts of more than 60 mph were reported in Jefferson County on the Olympic Peninsula.

The highest wind speed was the 78 mph reported in Sedro Woolley, about 75 miles north of Seattle. Wind speeds in the high 60s were reported on the coast and on Puget Sound waters, the agency said.

520 bridge reopens, trains and ferries shut down

The 520 bridge across Lake Washington reopened to traffic early Sunday after high winds and rough water forced the closure of the bridge Saturday.

The state Department of Transportation said the bridge's mechanical span system was slightly damaged. Repairs were required before the bridge could reopen to traffic.

During Saturday's wind storm, the 42-year-old floating bridge endured steady winds of 50 miles per hour and gusts up to 75 miles per hour.

The draw span was open to allow water to pass through the middle of the bridge. Transportation officials said that reduces the amount of potential damage to the bridge.

The last time the bridge was shut down during a storm was in March 1999.

High water, heavy winds and a mudslide prompted a 48-hour shutdown of passenger rail service north of Seattle.

AP photo

The floating bridge that takes State Route 520 across Lake Washington east of Seattle is shown after it was closed for the first time in nearly seven years due to high winds.

Washington State Ferries shut down the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry run connecting the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island because of choppy waters on Puget Sound.

And Seattle's zoo was shut down because of concerns that winds would topple trees.

Crews were working to clear a 3-foot-deep mudslide north of Seattle's Carkeek Park.

Weather related death

A Kalama woman, Ingrid J. Davis, 38, died while driving near the Wahkiakum-Cowlitz County line in southwest Washington when a tree fell on her car, the Washington State Patrol reported.

There were no immediate reports of other deaths, injuries or widespread property damage. But traffic had to be diverted off some roads in the region because of flooding, shifting or sinking asphalt, falling trees or downed power lines.

In the coastal town of Westport, the Grays Harbor County Emergency and Risk Management Office said some waterfront motels were evacuated as a precaution.

A radio station in nearby Aberdeen said several boats broke loose from their moorings in Westport overnight. Some small campers were blown into the water, and the seawall that protects the marina suffered minor damage, the station reported.

About 20 miles south of Aberdeen, some parts of Raymond were under 2 feet of water, KBKW reported. Traffic in downtown Raymond was limited to emergency vehicles.

Winds whip Oregon

The storm also swept across rain-battered western Oregon, where hundreds of people flocked to the coast to see high waves whipped up by the winds.

At the height of the storm, about 32,000 people in Western Oregon lost power, according to estimates provided by Portland General Electric. Crews had reduced that number to about 18,000 by early afternoon.

Gus Melonas, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, said the railroad ordered a 48-hour shutdown of passenger rail service between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, at 1:25 p.m. Saturday.

Tyrel Haveman

A viewer sent in this picture of his house north of Bellingham Saturday. The winds tore a gigantic tree branch off a tree that barely missed the house and a car, but blocked off the driveway entirely.

In Eastern Washington, a freight train carrying furniture derailed about 45 miles west of Spokane, blocking passenger rail traffic between Portland and Spokane. No one was injured, and the rail service resumed Sunday morning. The cause of that accident remained under investigation.

Melonas said the railroad was working to develop alternative routes for freight traffic, and that Amtrak passengers would be bused between Portland and Spokane.

Washington State Ferries spokeswoman Susan Harris said service on the Port Townsend-Keystone run would not resume until the windy weather subsided.

Storm damage at the Clinton ferry dock at the south end of Whidbey Island was causing some delays there, and ferries were running behind schedule on most other routes, Harris said.

To the east, the weather service said heavy snow and wind in the Cascades would make driving conditions "treacherous."

A coastal flood warning will remain in effect through 6 a.m. Sunday, with swells as high as 35 feet, the agency said. Powerful waves were expected to cause "extensive beach run up, substantial erosion, and possible damage to structures along exposed shorelines," the weather service said.

At Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, spokeswoman Gigi Allianic said the main safety concern was that trees could fall and injure visitors or damage cages and allow animals to escape. The weather service said the threat of falling trees was high because soil was saturated after a long stretch of rain.

Forecasters said the weather would begin clearing up Sunday, after a chance of early morning showers. The forecast called for partly cloudy skies throughout the rest of the week.

"We're due for a brief break here," said Danny Mercer, a meteorologist in the weather service's Seattle office.