Puget Sound Area Recovering From Brutal Storm

We are counting our blessings today as we woke up with electrical power intact after the most fierce windstorm to hit the Seattle area in over a decade. When I wrote yesterday's story about the Seahawks, I was aware that a storm of great magnitude was brewing and I thought that our somewhat rural town of Maple Valley would bear the brunt of it.
A potted plant was blown off of our deck as well as some chairs, but our front yard and around the cul de sac showed almost no hint of any damage. Up the road to the highway was a different story, as tree trunks and branches lay near the road, one trunk had been sawed to open the roadway. That was the story as we made it to Bellevue where both of our workplaces are. The power was out, most of the streetlights where out and it was impossible to work. Bellevue, probably Washington's second busiest commerce center was practically shut down. Since this is the Christmas season, a staggering amount of retail sales will be lost.
According to the Seattle Times, winds picked up in the area, to about 70 miles per hour, 4 people in the state have died this far as a result.