Severe storms kill two in northwest

Sections of a large fir tree that fell on a house overnight and killed an elderly woman rest in the yard in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015.

Mountainous areas of OR and neighboring Washington state have seen more than a foot of rain, the service said. A 60-year-old Portland woman died in bed when a tree fell on her house, and another woman drowned when her auto became submerged in standing high water in the state’s north, officials said.

The storms this week, which shattered at least five weather records for the Seattle area including the wettest first nine days in December, triggered mudslides and flooding, closed roadways and schools and prompted Washington Governor Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency.

Periods of heavy rain and fierce winds will continue across the region and down into northern California as the next installment of storms moves onshore, and warnings of coastal floods were issued for 3 a.m.to 9 a.m. local time on Friday morning (1100 to 1700 GMT), the National Weather Service said. Forecasters said the dramatic storms in the Pacific Northwest were easing up Thursday, but the threat from mudslides and flooding remained.

Forecasters say more rain is on the way Thursday and through the weekend.

Clark Public Utilities initially reported close to 5,000 customers without power in Battle Ground, centered around where the storm cell was reported.

Officials say the tornado damaged 36 homes and two commercial buildings as well as snapping power poles, downing trees and blowing away fences in a path two miles long. It’s unclear if her husband, Richard Forrest, will be cited for going around a road closure and driving into floodwaters, Lt. Bill Fugate said. There are still thousands of outages reported as crews work to reroute power in the area. Steady rain of the usual winter variety is expected in OR and Washington over the next few days.

Sonja Mundt, center, and Kathy Thompson of Olympia, who were unexpectedly delayed by a landslide on Interstate 5, work on a puzzle at Woodland High school in Woodland, Wash., Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015.

Meteorologist Jon Bonk said Thursday that cities from Portland to the coast got two-tenths to a half-inch of rain overnight, and river levels should remain flat or recede. Two northbound lanes of Interstate 5, which connects Seattle to Portland, had been re-opened to traffic by Friday after closing due to a mudslide.

“It’s more than our county budget can handle”, Josi said, estimating that damage will top $1 million.