A savage storm gave the back of its hand to the North Olympic Peninsula on Wednesday with a slap that snapped power poles, downed trees, blew up transformers and even blew the roof off the Clallam Bay Grocery.
The aftereffects lasted late into the night, with both the Bogachiel and the Elwha Rivers expected to flood as water rushed from the Olympics into the lowlands.
The rivers are forecast to recede this morning.
Residents of LaPush got an additional scare when a tsunami warning was issued for the Washington coast at about 5:30 a.m. after an undersea earthquake was reported near Japan.
The warning was canceled an hour later, but 65 mph winds lashed the village and for a time closed state Highway 110.
As dusk fell, LaPush Police Chief Bill Lyon worried that his patrol cars were running out of gas — and the area’s only service station powered by generators was almost out of fuel.
Residents were being sheltered in the tribe’s Akalat Center on the Quileute high ground.
Much of the village lies in a tsunami and flood zone.
Coastal communities also suffered high surf that will last at least until early today.
Throughout Clallam County, the storm also closed numerous roads and knocked out traffic signals.
Trees fell faster than city, county and utility crews could pull them off roads.
On Deer Park Road in Clallam County, one sheriff’s deputy told the 9-1-1 dispatcher, “We need the road totally shut down. We’ve got trees coming down everywhere.”
The region’s power supply was probably the storm’s first casualty.
Bonneville Power Administration spokeswoman Carrie Reese said the 115-kilovolt transmission between Port Angeles and Sappho went out at 10:22 a.m. and still was out Wednesday evening.
The downed power line is the only one that provides power for areas west of Sappho.
A Bonneville repair crew was on its way to the line late Wednesday afternoon, she said.
“There’s a lot of trees on the line. The power was rerouted so fortunately there’s not a lot of customers affected.
“It’s quite a mess and it took a while to get out there. There’s no estimate on when the power will be restored,” Reese said.
Between LaPush and Forks alone, at least 10 breaks were reported.
Clallam County Public Utility District Operations Superintendent Larry Morris said the power outages started on the West End, including Neah Bay and Sekiu, and hit early.
