Rain and wind pounded Washington and Oregon on Monday, snarling the commute and causing sporadic road closures and power outages and at at least one death.
The wet weather was expected to continue throughout the week and forecasters warned that Hurricane strength wind into the evening on the Washington and Oregon coasts.
A hunter on Oregon’s northwest coast was killed when a tree crashed on his tent near Nehalem on Monday Morning. Two hunters in an adjacent camp heard the tree snap as gusts reached more than 70 mph and saw it lying across the tent. They had cut it away in an attempt to rescue the man but could not do that.
Tillamook County Sheriff Andy Long had identified the hunter as Nathan Christenses, 52, of Seattle.
A Portland police officer was also seriously injured on Monday during all terrain vehicle training when a tree fell.
Forecasters in Seattle said up to 5 inches of rain could fall in the next couple of days in the mountains below snow level and more than 2 inches in the Western Washington lowlands.
Heavy rain greeted on commuters on Monday morning in the Puget Sound area as they splashed through deep puddles in the streets. Portions of Interstate 5 lanes and ramps in the Seattle area were crossed by water over the roadway.