PORT ANGELES — The Hood Canal Bridge has been reopened after it was closed because of high winds, the state Department of Transportation said.
The bridge was reopened at 2:54 p.m. after it had been closed in both directions at 1:09 p.m. today, the agency said.
Olympic National Park closed all entrances and campgrounds today as high winds blasted along the Strait of Juan De Fuca and Admiralty Inlet.
Winds were measured as high as 79 mph at Destruction Island off the Washington Coast near Kalaloch, with gusts of 81 mph in Rosario Strait, 69 mph at Hurricane Ridge, 43 mph at William R. Fairchild International Airport and 40 mph at Sequim Valley Airport.
Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said fallen trees were preventing some campers from leaving the park.
Rangers would clear roads as soon as high winds abated, she said.
Park personnel were encouraging those campers who could leave to do so.
Fallen trees are causing traffic delays on state Highway 112 from milepost 3 to milepost 37, the state Department of Transportation reported at 1 p.m. today.
Trees have been cleared from state Highway 104 at milepost 5, Transportation said.
Jefferson County Public Utility District has reported multiple electrical power outages, saying some customers could be without power for up to 48 hours.
Additional crews have been mobilized from outside the county to help restore power and the emergency operations center has been opened.
A tree was cleared from Eaglemount Road at about 10 a.m. Customers nearby who lost power are expected to be back online in by 2 p.m.
Emergency dispatchers were receiving reports of downed power lines and fallen trees — some of them afire – on U.S. Highway 101 and state Highways 20 and 104 starting shortly after 10 a.m.
One lane of U.S. Highway 101 also was closed near Ruby Beach Road in the park’s coastal strip.
The state Department of Transportation said that fallen trees had blocked the southbound lane at milepost 164 beginning at 11:02 a.m.
