1 killed by falling tree, 20K lose power in Wash. high winds

FALL CITY, Wash. (AP) — A woman was killed on Monday by a falling tree amid strong winds in western Washington, officials said.

Authorities were called to a street east of Seattle in Fall City around 8:30 a.m. Monday and found the woman who had been hit, The Seattle Times reported.

Fire and rescue crews performed CPR but the woman died from her injuries, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Manny Apostol.

The tree fell during a wind advisory predicting strong gusts in several places including that area of King County. The National Weather Service said Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had a peak wind gust of 59 mph around that time on Monday.

Falling trees also took out power lines, leaving more than 20,000 customers in western Washington without electricity. By Monday afternoon, that number was about 17,000, according to Puget Sound Energy and Seattle City Light.

Recent rainfall has saturated the soil, making it easier for winds to topple trees onto power lines, according to Melanie Coon, Puget Sound Energy spokesperson.

The county sheriff’s office is investigating the woman’s death, and the county medical examiner is expected to determine an official cause.