Storm Knocks Out Power in Northwest; Boy Killed

L.A. Times Archives

Dec. 28, 2002 12 AM PT

From Times Wire Services

SEATTLE — A winter storm whipped the coasts of Oregon and Washington on Friday, dumped snow in the western mountains and knocked out power to thousands of people before sweeping north into Canada. One child was killed.

More than 300,000 homes and businesses were without power at the height of the storm, when wind gusted to 45 mph in the Puget Sound region. The strongest gust -- 128 mph -- was recorded at White Pass, Wash., in the Cascades.

Cody Allen Brown, 10, died when he became tangled in a downed 7,200-volt power line near his home outside Olympia. The boy’s grandmother pulled him from the live power line, McLane Fire District 9 spokesman Davie Foster said. “It’s a miracle she wasn’t hurt,” he said.

In downtown Seattle, a 20-year-old man who was knocked unconscious by a flying canopy.

Utility crews were working around the clock, hoping to restore power to all customers over the weekend.

Friday’s storm also brought snow to the Olympics and Cascades -- with 6 inches to a foot expected at elevations above 5,000 feet.

“We’ve had crews out since 1 a.m.,” said Shannon Shoul, spokeswoman for PacifiCorp, which reported that 12,000 customers in southern and central coastal Oregon had their electricity cut by the storm. “The wind was pretty heavy through the night, but it looks like things are lightening up a bit.”

PacifiCorp, a unit of Scottish Power, had restored power to all but 3,000 homes by midmorning, Shoul said.

Farther north, near Portland on the Washington border, about 15,000 homes were without power and crews were repairing major service lines, Portland General Electric spokesman Kregg Arntson said.

In Washington, a child inside a car hit by a falling tree in eastern Pierce County suffered minor injuries, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. Winds also blew a tree down on a house in Fircrest, south of Tacoma.

Two barges tied together broke loose from a buoy in Seattle’s Elliott Bay and drifted toward the piers along the downtown waterfront. Six tugboats raced to bring the barges under control near Pier 70.

“I’m sure there was concern, but they got ahold of it before it could cause any damage,” said Aida Cabrera, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard.

The drama frayed nerves among employees at Waterfront Seafood Grill on Pier 70, as they watched the barge creep closer.

Mindy McNeely, a hostess, said she had just clocked in when she looked up, saw the barges and said: “Wait a minute. This is too close. It’s not supposed to be this close. It was right there. I knew there was a problem.”

Chef J.J. Holes said that at one point, he thought the barge was going to hit the restaurant.

“If it gets within 30 to 40 feet,” he recalled thinking, “we’re going to run. It would’ve been history.”

Another barge broke loose off Tacoma, which tugs also brought under control quickly.