Impact Hanukkah Eve windstorm of 2006

1 impact

1.1 washington

1.1.1 deaths
1.1.2 newspapers
1.1.3 state of emergency , recovery
1.1.4 air quality
1.1.5 contributing factors


1.2 oregon
1.3 british columbia

impact
washington

the storm left heavy damage across washington, tree damage. fallen trees knocked down many power lines , closed many roads well. seattle-tacoma international airport partially lost power, canceling flights. flooding reported in low-lying areas heavy rain.

storm damage @ olympia, washington apartment complex.

the electricity grid hit hard, 1.2 million customers lost power in state, , puget sound energy reported more 75 percent of circuits damaged. municipal utilities suffered severe damage. in seattle area, several days after storm hundreds of thousands of families still remained without power , many had leave homes , move hotels or emergency shelters coping inclement weather. major employers in area affected; power outage forced microsoft shut down large portions of campus in redmond on december 15.

the seattle school district , many districts surrounding closed, marking first time seattle schools closed weather-related reason other snow.

it described worst storm hit region since inauguration day storm of january 20, 1993.

deaths

fourteen people killed in western washington. 1 of them 41-year-old voice actress kate fleming (aka anna fields) trapped in flooded basement in seattle s madison valley. in grays harbor county markus stickles killed tree fell home in mccleary. in gig harbor, washington, pritchard miller , dog electrocuted after stepping on downed power line. in pierce county, 2 motorists hit falling trees. eatonville resident harold fox, 47, killed while trying avoid fallen tree south of spanaway. near mckenna, 37-year-old roy resident bonnie bacus died result of tree falling onto cab of truck, in passenger; husband, driving truck, died 3 months later (, ). steven thielen died in spanaway result of house fire caused use of candles light.

eight deaths occurred result of carbon monoxide poisoning. 5 of members of single burien family. adam butcher, wife jackie harris, , 2 sons, jason shane butcher, 14 , raymond zachary butcher, 21, died of asphyxiation because of generator running in closed garage attached home. son, rick taylor butcher, 24, died in hospital on january 20, 2007 result of injuries. alejandro nava-solis of kirkland, juan figueroa-gomez of renton, , shah fazli of kenmore among carbon monoxide deaths.

newspapers

for first time in 70 years, on december 15 seattle post intelligencer not able publish copies of newspaper. result of power outage @ printing plant in bothell, seattle times able publish 13,000 copies of friday edition.

wind damage in capitol hill neighborhood in seattle.

the following day, both newspapers had printed news tribune of tacoma virtue of agreement use each others printing presses during emergencies.

for december 20 edition, seattle times put carbon monoxide warnings on front page in english, spanish, chinese, vietnamese, somali, , russian word out immigrant community dangers of carbon monoxide in light of recent deaths.

state of emergency , recovery

on december 18, washington governor christine gregoire declared state of emergency in western washington result of damages. on january 11, governor requested federal disaster declaration , on february 14, declaration approved president bush.

air quality

in wake of storm, quality of air deteriorated due increased use of wood stoves , fireplaces while air stagnant.

contributing factors

just previous windstorm, seattle set new record rainfall in single month 16 inches (410 mm) of rain falling in november 2006, of series of pineapple express rain storms in first week of month. combined several days of snow , ice later in month, , continuing rain throughout first half of december 2006, ground in puget sound region extremely waterlogged , loose.

additionally, large portions of planted trees in seattle metropolitan area @ end of lifespan, being 60 70 years of age or more. compound this, many tree species had shallow root systems did not extend past waterlogged soil.

the result of these factors many thousands of large, old trees uprooted , tipped over, tons of mud captured in roots, , crashed homes , power lines.

the major tree loss in old growth areas @ borders more recent logging has occurred. forest cover holds group during strong winds , these cuts original areas created open edges trees hit horizontally wind.

oregon

the high winds left damage in oregon. extensive tree damage reported, of fell on houses or on power lines. more 350,000 customers lost power @ peak of storm. shelters opened in coastal regions result of storm damage. governor ted kulongoski requested federal disaster declaration on january 31, 2007.

two people killed due house fire in seaside during power outage. severe weather hampered rescue efforts of 3 missing climbers on mount hood; 1 climber later found dead , other 2 missing , presumed dead. on oregon coast, 3 sailors hired sail catamaran south africa seattle missing. 50 ft (15 m) boat found overturned on beach near lincoln city morning of december 15. crew last seen leaving san francisco on december 8. search 3 sailors called off on afternoon of december 16.

animation of hanukkah eve storm approaching west coast of north america.


british columbia

for british columbia, storm followed several others occurred in preceding weeks. high-profile damage caused storm breaking , uprooting of around 10,000 trees in stanley park in downtown vancouver. in addition stanley park, extensive damage reported trees around lower mainland, took power lines down them number of houses, notably on exposed areas of west vancouver facing west on howe sound. bc ferries service disrupted along coast, along other transit disruption, closed roads, , closed schools. @ peak, bc hydro reported on 250,000 customers without power.

an elderly couple died of asphyxiation result of carbon monoxide poisoning in burnaby.