Classes in Spokane, Washington, were canceled Wednesday after severe weather downed trees and left widespread power outages.
At least three people were killed when strong thunderstorms with heavy winds pummeled the Pacific Coast on Tuesday afternoon.
In Spokane, emergency management officials issued a shelter-in-place warning, as wind gusts reached over 70 mph. The roof of one building collapsed with people inside, but police were able to pull them to safety without injuries, police Officer Teresa Fuller said.
Two women near Spokane died, a spokeswoman for Spokane County told CNN. High winds caused a falling tree to strike one of the women.
At its peak, more than 448,503 customers were without power in the state early Wednesday. More than 70,000 customers were still without power in Spokane by the afternoon.
Near Seattle, a large tree fell on a car, killing a man in his 20s as the worst of the weather began to move in, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said.