Two people were killed by falling trees in Washington state when a powerful storm hit the Pacific Northwest.
In Bellevue, a tree fell on a home and struck and killed a woman while she was in the shower Tuesday night, the Bellevue Fire Department said.
A fallen tree sits on top of a fire truck after a powerful storm hit the US Pacific Northwest and western Canada, causing power outages in Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia while wreaking havoc on road trips, in Seattle, Washington, on November 20 . , 2024.
David Ryder/Reuters
A drone view of crews working to remove a tree that fell from a bus after a powerful storm hit the US Pacific Northwest and western Canada, causing power outages in Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia while wreaking havoc on road trips in Seattle, Washington, 2024 November 20
David Ryder/Reuters
In Lynwood, a 50-year-old woman died after a tree fell on a homeless encampment, authorities said.
Hundreds of thousands of people lost power as a result of the storm, which brought down power lines and caused extensive damage. As of Wednesday afternoon, about 320,000 customers were still without power, according to Puget Sound Energy CEO Mary Kipp.
“We haven’t had a storm like this since January 2012,” Kipp said In a video about X.
Crews were prioritizing restoring power to hospitals and schools, and Kipp estimated that power would not be restored to all customers for “at least a few days.”
About 23,000 other Seattle City Light customers were without power as of Wednesday afternoon, according to a release from the utility. X on the social media platform.
The storm blew up bomb cyclone off the coast near Canada’s Vancouver Island, where winds gusted close to 101 mph.
A bomb cyclone means that the pressure in the center of the storm drops by 24 millibars in 24 hours.
Eastside Fire & Rescue responds to a downed tree during a severe storm on November 19, 2024 in Issaquah, Washington.
Eastside Fire & Rescue
Eastside Fire & Rescue responds to a downed tree during a severe storm on November 19, 2024 in Issaquah, Washington.
Eastside Fire & Rescue
The storm has brought dangerous winds and rain to the West Coast.
Two to four inches of rain has been recorded so far in western Washington, western Oregon and northwestern California.
The rain began in northwest California Tuesday afternoon and is not expected to stop until Friday morning. Twelve to 18 centimeters of precipitation is expected by the end of the week.
In this photo provided by Eastside Fire & Rescue, officials examine the scene of a tree that fell on a home in Issaquah, Wash., on Nov. 19, 2024.
Eastside Fire & Rescue via AP
A high risk of excessive precipitation has been issued. Rain will be the most dangerous on Thursday.
They can be floods, rockfalls and landslides.
In the mountains of Northern California, blizzard conditions will be possible with wind gusts reaching 50 to 70 mph. 1 to 4 feet of snow is possible at higher elevations. A foot of snow has already hit the mountains west of Redding, California.
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck contributed to this report.
