Thousands without power as ‘bomb cyclone’ brings strong winds to north-west US

Thousands of people across western Washington were left without power Tuesday night as a powerful "bomb cyclone" brought strong winds to the north-west US.

The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for the Washington coast, the east Puget Sound lowlands, and areas near Bellevue through early Wednesday morning, News.Az reports, citing US media.

The warning was expanded to include the Seattle and Everett areas Tuesday night. Winds between 30-40 mph were possible, with gusts up to 65 mph expected.

Areas closer to the Puget Sound shoreline were under a less severe wind advisory Tuesday evening through early Wednesday morning, with gusts up to 50 mph expected.

As of 10:09 p.m. (local time) Tuesday, at least 519,252 outages were reported across western Washington.

Officials say it's never safe to approach a power line that is on the ground, often called a "downed" power line. These lines can still be energized and electrocute people.

News.Az