Downed trees blocked roads and power outages were widespread yesterday across much of the American Northwest, where residents prepared for a massive cleanup effort after being battered by back-to-back storms.
A severe storm smacked the region on Monday with hurricane-force winds and heavy rain, and was blamed for four deaths. It came only a day after another severe system moved through Sunday.
By yesterday, the second system had moved on to the Upper Midwest, where it was predicted to drop heavy snow.
In its path, it left chaos: Roads were closed in Washington and Oregon because of downed trees and landslides, and many schools and government offices were closed for a second day.
The National Weather Service said 7.5 to 15 cm of rain had fallen across much of western Washington.
Mudslides blocked numerous roads and forced an undetermined number of residents to evacuate condominiums, apartments and houses in Seattle and its surroundings.
Interstate 5, the principal north-south route along the West Coast, was closed near Centralia because of about 0.9 m of water over the road. Mudslides also halted passenger train service between Portland and Vancouver, British Columbia, for a second day yesterday.
Rescue boats were used to grab flood-stranded residents, and GPS-equipped helicopters were used at night.
Power companies said electricity may not be restored to some areas for three or four days, and some utilities planned to survey the damage by helicopter yesterday. More stiff winds were likely, but nothing like the blasts that exceeded 193 kph at the height of the storm.
Those killed in the storm included a 90-year-old woman who had a heart attack while evacuating.
The back-to-back storm fronts Sunday and Monday that were among the Northwest's worst in recent memory. The first storm killed at least 15 people, mostly in traffic accidents, as it marched across the country, dumping snow from the Midwest to the Northeast.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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