On edge of Deception Pass: Drivers walk away from crash on bridge
One person died in an early morning crash in Skyway, and many others were injured in various crashes throughout the day.
Deception Pass Bridge reopens
Strong winds nearly threw a tractor-trailer off the Deception Pass Bridge between Oak Harbor and Anacortes in the morning, forcing the bridge's closure for six hours, according to the Washington State Patrol.
There were no life-threatening injuries in the two-vehicle accident.
Charlo Brodt, 35, was on his way to work about 7 a.m., going north on Highway 20 to Clear Lake in his 1981 Toyota pickup when he saw the tractor-trailer on two wheels, coming straight at him, he said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Winds at the time were gusting up to 55 mph, according to the State Patrol.
Brodt hit his brakes but couldn't stop in time. The tractor-trailer hit his truck, his hood sliding under it. The tractor-trailer, meanwhile, was perched on the guardrail, hanging over the water.
"When he was coming at me, I thought he was going to bump us both off the sides," said Brodt about the other driver, Eugene Schaible. Brodt got out and looked for Schaible, who had already escaped out the passenger door unhurt.
The bridge was closed for six hours until winds died down and tow trucks could drag the tractor-trailer off the guardrail.
Transportation officials declared the bridge structurally sound and were repairing the guardrail yesterday.
Southbound Interstate 5 clogged by 55-vehicle pileup
A burst of sun followed by a rain squall and then more sun apparently sparked a 55-vehicle pileup on southbound Interstate 5 just north of McChord Air Force Base yesterday afternoon.
"That (weather) caused some visibility problems out here, and that's how this thing occurred," said State Patrol Trooper Johnny Alexander.
He added the accidents could have been avoided if commuters left more space between cars because of the wet conditions.
As many as 13 separate collisions occurred within a half-mile stretch of the freeway, starting around 4 p.m. State troopers were able to sort through the crashes and reopened all southbound lanes by 6 p.m.
Many of the vehicles involved in the pileup were totaled, including a travel bus, semi-trailer trucks and a large military vehicle from Fort Lewis, investigators said.
No serious injuries were reported.
Alexander said the scene could have cleared sooner, but drivers using the shoulder to get to the nearest freeway exit blocked fire crews, tow trucks and troopers trying to get to the accident.
"It was terrible. We literally just sat there on the shoulder," he said. "That really slowed things up for us."
Passenger killed, three others hurt in Skyway accident
A woman died and three others were critically injured in a crash in Skyway in the early morning hours.
The accident occurred in the 12200 block of Martin Luther King Junior Way South, also known as Highway 900.
A Jeep wagon and a Nissan sedan hit head-on, sending the Jeep into an embankment. The woman who died, identified as May Saelee, was a passenger in the Nissan.
A passenger in the Jeep and the driver of the Nissan, both men in their 20s, were in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The driver of the Jeep was in stable condition at Harborview.
At the time of the accident, there was heavy rain and wind, making the roads slick.
Light pole falls across I-5 on Ship Canal Bridge
About 10:30 a.m., the wind lifted the lid off a garbage truck, breaking it off its hinges and causing it to strike a light pole on a southbound lane of I-5 on the Lake Washington Ship Canal Bridge.
The pole fell across two lanes of traffic, and parts of it fell onto the express lanes below.
The two lanes were closed for more than an hour.
Times staff reporters Nguyen Huy Vu and Michael Ko and The Associated Press contributed to this story.