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Tuesday morning's headlines

A road sign down near Stanwood in Snohomish County.
Twitpic/KING5unit9
A road sign down near Stanwood in Snohomish County.

Overnight storm knocks out power to tens of thousands, flooding rivers are receding, video of a water rescue near Everett, and rail commuters get a reprieve.

Updated at 7:39 am

Overnight Storms Topple Power Lines

A series of thunderstorms overnight brought hail and high winds, knocking out power to more than 40,000 homes around the region. Most are Puget Sound Energycustomers in King and Thurston counties, according to the Associated Press.  Outages were also reported in Kitsap, Pierce and Grays Harbor counties.

A tree fell on a north Seattle home, according to KIRO TV

In the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle, storm winds dropped a tree directly onto a man’s home at the corner of Northeast 120th Street and Ninth Avenue Northeast. The homeowner, Brian Pennington, said he had to crawl out of a front window to escape, but was unhurt.

Wind gusts hit 70 mph at the Tacoma Narrows, and 51 at Sea-Tac Airport and Hoquiam. 

Seattle City Lightreported more than 8,000 without electricity, but say many have had their power restored.  PSE expects to most of its customers to have electricity later today. 

Bethel Schools in Pierce County are starting two hours late due power outages.

A number of roads are closed in King County due to flood waters and downed trees. You can check out the most current county road conditions here.

 

Flood Threat Wanes as Rivers Recede

Western Washington rivers are dropping back below flood levels today. National Weather Service forecasterssay temperatures are dropping to below freezing in the mountains. A foot of snow is predicted to fall at the mountain passes by Wednesday morning. 

The Herald of Everett reportsbig worries about record flooding in Snohomish County were eased after water crested at levels lower than expected, including Snohomish and other rivers:

By midmorning, officials had lifted the warning for the Skykomish River. That doesn’t mean people didn’t get wet. "You should have been out here yesterday. I saw a small barn floating down the river,” said Jeremy Stokesbary. He was at Lewis Street Park in Monroe watching the river rush by.

In Everett, cameras captured firefighter's rescuing a woman trapped in her SUV, after she backed into a retention pond:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chgJvn4wtM0

The woman was cold, but OK. How the vehicle got into the pond Monday morning is still a mystery, according to The Herald.

Train Service Back to Normal Tuesday

Mudslides that closed rail lines are cleared, and the Amtrak Cascades and Sounder commuter service resumes normal operations today. The Seattle Times reports the lines north of the US-Canada border may take a little longer to open, depending on conditions in British Columbia. Sounder service between Everett and Seattle was suspended after the weekend storm.