PORTLAND, Ore. — Hurricane-force winds and heavy rain battered the Northwest for a second day Monday, killing at least two people and leaving entire communities dark and isolated as the storms blocked roads with trees, power lines, high water and mud.
Dozens of people stranded by floodwaters required rescue as the second of two storms blew through, and Oregon transportation officials warned drivers not to attempt passage through the Coast Range.
“This storm is hitting the coast so hard, it’s not leaving any road open,” Transportation Department spokeswoman Christine Miles said.
The first wave of severe weather in the Northwest, which hit Sunday, was expected to reach the Upper Midwest with snow today, the National Weather Service said. That region already has been battered by ice and snow.
The governors of Washington and Oregon declared states of emergency, allowing easier aid to stricken communities.
About 150 people were stranded at some point Monday across western Washington, said Gov. Chris Gregoire.
Rescue boats during the daytime yielded to helicopters equipped with global-positioning systems after dark, in some cases plucking people from roofs, Lewis County sheriff’s Detective Matt Wallace said.
An estimated 30 to 40 people evacuated a flooded mobile home park near Astoria in northwestern Oregon, said Red Cross volunteer Peter Williamson. Fire officials in Tualatin said 23 people and a dog had to flee as rising water threatened 16 homes.
Bremerton, Wash., reported 10.78 inches of rain in 24 hours, said Weather Service meteorologist Chris Burke. High water closed streets in Portland.
Wind gusts of more than 100 mph were reported along the Oregon coast, with the highest reading at 129 mph at Bay City, the Weather Service said. Gusts hit 81 mph at Hoquiam, Wash., it said.
Mudslides halted Amtrak passenger train service between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia, and flooding forced the indefinite closure of Interstate 5, the main route between Seattle and Portland. To the east, snowslides temporarily closed major Cascade Mountain passes carrying traffic on Interstate 90 and U.S. 2.
Roads leading into the population centers of Washington’s Grays Harbor County were cut off for most of the day, but one patched-together route from Olympia to Ocean Shores was finally punched through by Monday evening.
“In 30 years of law enforcement, it’s as bad as I’ve ever seen,” said Grays Harbor County Sheriff Michael J. Whelan, whose truck was smashed in his driveway by a falling tree.
Telephone and other communications were so tenuous that it was impossible to determine how many people were forced out of their homes, said Abby Kershaw of Oregon Emergency Management.
Pacific Power reported 40,000 homes without power in Oregon, and it could be days before electricity is fully restored, the utility said. Transmission poles 100 feet tall were toppled, and large sections of lines lay on the ground.
In southwestern Washington, one man died when a tree fell on him as he was trying to clear one that had been toppled, said Grays Harbor authorities.
