One dead in Monroe after tree falls on vehicle during WA windstorm

One person died in Monroe after a large tree fell onto their vehicle late Wednesday night.

At approximately 8:30 p.m., Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue (SRFR) reported the incident was in the 23200 block of Florence Acres Road.

The tree had fallen onto the vehicle, trapping the occupant inside. Twenty minutes later, SRFR reported that the incident had become fatal.

Residents nearby had been advised to avoid traveling through Old Owen at Florence Acres Road.

“It’s hard,” Kia Eden, who lives near the crash, told KIRO 7. “It’s a hard thing.”

Neighbors said the tragedy is a reminder to avoid traveling during severe weather events.

“Any one of these trees could fall,” Eden said. “You have to stay off the road. They call them widowmakers for a reason.”

Strong winds cut power to more than 100K in WA on Wednesday night

Strong winds across Washington left tens of thousands of residents without electricity Wednesday night as powerful gusts knocked down trees and damaged power lines in multiple counties.

In King County alone, roughly 34,454 customers remained without power, making it the hardest-hit area in the state as crews work to restore service.

Utility providers reported that outages grew rapidly throughout the evening. Around 5:30 p.m., roughly 3,000 customers were without power. By late evening, that number had climbed dramatically to more than 105,000 people statewide, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm was strong enough that meteorologists issued a weather alert for the region earlier Wednesday. At the summit of Alpental, wind gusts reportedly reached 134 miles per hour.

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