AP

Kae Lamberton, left, of Auburn, Wash., tries to salvage what little she can reach through a bedroom window in her mobile home after three trees fell on her home and vehicles.

SEATTLE - It may be days before Western Washington recovers from the deadly wind storm that tore through the region, claiming four lives, closing major bridges and knocking out power to a million homes and businesses.

Governor Gregoire declared a state of emergency in 17 counties in the wake of the storm. The counties are: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum and Whatcom.

About 700,000 customers of Puget Sound Energy, the state's largest private utility, were without power early Friday and about three-fourths of the circuits were down in the company's nine-county service area, spokesman Roger Thompson said.

Some people could be without power for as long as three days, said Dorothy Bracken, a Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman.

The City of Seattle says it will take another day or two to restore electrical service to every one. About 86,000 City Light customers were still out Friday evening - down from 175,000 after the windstorm.

Other outages affected about 120,000 in the Snohomish County Public Utility District north of the city, 70,000 to 80,000 to the south in Tacoma and 22,000 in the Grays Harbor PUD on the coast.

There was no estimate of how long it would take to restore all service, but Neil Neroutsos of the PUD noted that repair crews were busy for more than a week after the 1993 storm.

In Bellevue, an estimated 80 percent of the city was without power during the day. The city reported most retail and other businesses were without power and closed, and there were long lines at the few gas stations with operable pumps.

Puget Sound Energy said it had 185 crews working to restore power and repair crews from other states were being called in to help.

The hardest-hit area was King County, which includes Seattle, where drenching rain accompanied the first wallop as the storm hit Thursday afternoon, slowing commuters to a crawl. The winds picked up again around midnight.

Winds gusted to 135 at Mission Ridge, 113 mph near Mount Rainier, 90 mph at Westport and Ocean Shores, 80 mph along the Straits of Juan de Fuca, 74 mph at the Hood Canal floating bridge, 69 mph at Sea-Tac Airport, 63 mph at the Evergreen Point floating bridge, and more than 50 mph in downtown Seattle.

Fatalities and injuries

Four deaths attributed to the storm.

Two people have died from falling trees in Pierce County. In the first incident, a driver who tried to avoid a fallen tree by making an evasive maneuver hit another tree. An hour later, a falling tree struck a pickup truck, killing a woman and severely injuring a man who is in critical condition at Madigan Army Medical Center.

KING

Even planes weren't secure. One small plane ended up on top of another.

In Grays Harbor County, the McCleary Fire Department says a 28-year-old man was crushed while he slept when the top of a tree snapped off in the wind around midnight and crashed into his trailer home.

In Seattle's Madrona neighborhood, 6 feet of water trapped Kathryn Fleming, 41, inside a windowless basement room. Fire department divers found the woman who had been underwater for eight minutes. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center where she later died.

"Somehow, the door shut, and she couldn't open the door because of the water pressure," Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said.

About 50 residents of Sunrise Assisted Living of Edmonds were evacuated after a tree came crashed through the third floor about 2 a.m., knocking out the fire main and flooding the building, Snohomish County emergency management officials said. Residents were sent to other facilities operated by Sunrise in the area, many to one in Snohomish where employees were working through a power outage. No injuries were reported.

Shelters

For temporary shelters in Seattle, call 1-866-4CRISIS.

Red Cross has opened a shelter at Oak Harbor's senior citizen center for anyone who needs help.

Two shelters also opened Friday night in Bellevue - one at the North Bellevue Community Center on 148th Ave. NE, and the other at Bellevue High School just off Bellevue Way.

The Red Cross also opened an emergency shelter at the Bonney Lake Senior Center next to Bonney Lake City Hall.

Trees down

More than 400 trees fell overnight in King County alone, and about 300 trees fell across roads. Some power poles snapped. The Emergency Management Agency's Eric Holdeman says power outages are the biggest problem in the Seattle area. Many traffic signals are out. Metro Transit trolleys are not running. Flooding has damaged the West Point sewage treatment plant.

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One Eastside home was hit by several trees.

The city of Mercer asked its residents to stay home unless its absolutely necessary.

In the Lake Forest Park area, firefighters battled a house fire reportedly sparked by a candle in a bedroom. The home's occupants received minor injuries, but the house is a total loss.

Bridge closures

The Hood Canal Floating Bridge, linking the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas, closed shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday when winds there gusted to 74 mph, the state Department of Transportation said. It was reopened shortly after 5:30 a.m.

The SR 520 Evergreen Point Bridge closed shortly after 10 p.m. and remained closed to traffic until shortly after 1 p.m. A gust of wind there measured 63 mph.

The I-90 bridge was also impacted, the HOV lanes were shut down due to power problems with the reversible lane gates.

The Ballard Bridge was stuck open because of the strong wind gusts, a piece of a Seattle crane fell onto cars below, and an Amtrak train was stuck near Kelso after a mudslide. Amtrak's Cascades service between Seattle and Portland has been canceled today.

Rain and flooding

Rain drenched Qwest Field just before kickoff of the NFL game between the Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. The rain left standing water on the field.

During the Thursday evening rush hour in Seattle, rain and standing water backed up traffic. On Mercer Street, a BMW and another vehicle were swamped by high water.

In West Seattle, a 15-by-20-foot sinkhole opened. Another sinkhole in Woodinville has closed part of 132nd Ave. NE.

Five landslides have been reported in various parts of Seattle.

Karin Czulik / KING5.com

Long line at a gas station in Issaquah Friday morning

Responding to widespread reports of flooding around the city, Seattle Public Utilities has activated its Urban Flood Response Plan and has at least 20 work crews dealing with issues ranging from landslides and street flooding to sewage backups and a sinkhole.

Heavy rain created a mudslide in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood in the 100 block of Elliot near Prospect. It was only one of many challenges for drivers across Seattle. Many downtown streets flooded and water spouted up from various manhole covers.

In the 24 hours up until 4:30 p.m., Seattle-Tacoma International Airport received 1.09 inches of rain, Shelton in Mason County recorded 2.19 inches, Olympia had 1.53 inches, Hoquiam on the coast had 1.83 inches, and Maple Falls in the Cascade foothills east of Bellingham had 1.46 inches.

More destruction

At least five boats sank at the Crow's Nest Marina near Brown's Point and up to 50 suffered damage. No other marinas have reported any damage.

The storm rolled over the Cascades and hammered the Inland Northwest. From Spokane to Coeur d'Alene, 50- to 60-mph wind gusts cut a wide path of destruction.

Wind, surf, rain and snow

A high surf warning is in effect until 10 p.m. Friday. Huge waves battered beaches and produced deadly rip currents and some beach erosion.

The National Weather Service issued an urban and small stream flood advisory for parts of Western Washington. Forecasters say rain was falling at a rate of an inch an hour as the storm front moves through the state.

AP

A car hydroplanes through an intersection after a downpour.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the following Western Washington rivers: Tolt (near Carnation), Snoqualmie (near the Falls and near Carnation), Puyallup (near Orting), Nisqually (near National), Cowlitz (at Randle), Skookumchuck (near Bucoda), Chehalis (near Grand Mound and at Porter), Skokomish (near Potlatch).

A National Weather Service flood watch is in effect through at least Saturday for rivers across Oregon, while the Coast Guard has closed the Columbia River bar to maritime traffic.

Request from police

Police has been inundated with calls that are not emergencies. They therefore request people do not call 911 for non-emergency situations such as power outages, dark intersections, flooded roadways, down power lines (unless the wires are arcing and sparking), bad traffic conditions.

They say fires, in-progress crimes, injury accidents, etc. will take priority over weather-related incidents. People should stay home unless absolutely necessary, as driving is more likely to make them part of the problem, rather than the solution.

Governor has storm warning

In a statement from Governor Gregoire's Olympia office, the governor urged residents to take steps to protect themselves and their families from the hazards of the extreme weather. She says if you absolutely have to be on the highways, to use extreme caution. It's better to stay home if you can, she says.

The governor suggests replenishing a three-day supply of food, water, batteries, flashlights and other necessities. She says families should agree on a plan for protecting themselves, both indoors and outside and on the roads.

On the passes

At Snoqualmie Pass, chains are required for all vehicles except all-wheel drive cars. Crews did avalanche control there late in the afternoon and there's snow, ice and slush on the road.

At Stevens Pass, there's compact snow and ice and traction tires are required. Chains are required for all vehicles over 10,000 gross vehicle weight and no oversize vehicles are allowed.

At White Pass, there is snow and slush. Traction tires are required.

Airport business

Many flights at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were canceled or delayed Friday, stemming from a power outage. An FAA office that tracks planes was shut down from about 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. so its operations could be transferred to another control center in nearby Auburn.

That Terminal Radar Approach Control building is where air-traffic controllers communicate with all flights within 25 miles of the airport. Once flights are within a 5-mile radius, communication is transferred to the air-traffic control tower.

Power was knocked out about 1:30 a.m. Friday to the south end of the airport terminal, as well as to a nearby Federal Aviation Administration air-traffic control office. More than 100 flights were canceled or delayed.

AP

Erik Guttridge works to clear a drain at an intersection where 3 feet of water covered the street and caused a vehicle, abandoned behind him, to stall Thursday.

All traffic was shut down for approximately an hour late Friday afternoon when the FAA moved its operations to another control center so it wouldn't have to rely on backup power. That affected another 80 or so flights, airport spokeswoman Rachel Garson said.

Flights were back to delays of less than 10 minutes by 7 p.m., FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said.

At 5:30 a.m. Sea-Tac Airport officials reported windows in the C Concourse had been blown out. Power was also out in the A Concourse or South Satellite. Some flights using those concourses are being impacted.

At Boeing Field the wind tossed a small plane parked at the southeast corner of Boeing Field on top of two other planes. Two more aircraft there also sustained damage in the storm.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.