PORTLAND, Ore. -- A powerful winter storm stretched from the Oregon Coast, with winds up to 90 mph, to Portland, where wind gusts reached 50 mph Monday night.
In Seaside, high winds blew the roof off the old city hall on Broadway. The building was set to be turned into a coffee shop and was undergoing remodeling. There were no reports of injuries. Witnesses said it looked like part of the roof came off and the construction fencing blew into the building.
"You can't even get up on the roof to see how much damage was done and how much water was getting into that building," said Seaside Police Chief Robert Gross.
At the Safeway in Seaside, the parking lot looked more like a pond and shopping carts literally took off in the wind, causing shoppers to scramble for cover.
Meteorologists issued a flood warning as well as high surf and high wind advisories through Tuesday, with seas climbing up to 30 feet. National Weather Service Meteorologist Jonathan Wolfe said one to two inches of rain fell in just the past 12 hours on the Oregon coast. In addition, about a foot of water covered U.S. Highway 101 just south of Seaside and traffic was being temporarily restricted to "high-profile" vehicles.
"It has been downright busy over the past 24 hours. The good news however is that the wind has peaked and is much calmer now," KGW Meteorologist Nick Allard said on Tuesday morning.
Monday night, the storm reached Portland and hammered the city with high winds, some gusting up to 50 miles an hour. Some trees were even blown over onto cars and homes.
Portland General Electric was responding to a handful of power outages in Oregon City and Forest Grove. In Vancouver, crews were responding to downed trees and a number of power outages.
Colder air and rains were forecast to push in behind the winds, Allard said. "Look for wet weather just about everywhere, with calmer conditions," he said, and as colder temperatures move inland the snow levels would drop. Fresh mountain snow was expected Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
