Storms continue to cause problems for local drivers and homeowners



The relentless winter storms are continuing to cause problems around Western Washington this weekend.

Peter Larson is thrilled about the conditions up at Snoqualmie Pass.

“There’s a lot more snow that usual, at least for the last couple years, it’s been not the greatest snowfall,” he says. “So it’s really exciting this year.”

He wanted to take his wife up to learn snowboarding, but he had to learn how to put chains on his car to make it up to the slopes. He wasn’t the only one struggling with that process today.

“I’m chaining up the car for the first time, having to do that to go over the pass,” says driver Evan Nilson. “Certainly a first for me, but I think we got it figured out.”

Nilson didn’t want to take any chances getting over the pass. He heard about all the road closures over the last few days, and decided the best way to get to family for the holidays was to leave early and give himself plenty of time.

“I can’t really take any risks in a tiny car like this. So definitely going to play it safe.”

Down in the lower elevations, it’s not snow that’s causing problems. It’s the rain that’s soaked the ground so much a tree came down in Tukwila.

“It was quite loud crashing, I almost thought it hit the building,” says Luke Pickett. “Then we just heard car alarms.”

Pickett’s truck was one of six vehicles that was damaged. At first, he couldn’t even tell how bad it was.

“I walked around the building, came up and saw the front end of it. But the back end was gone.”

He says he just started a new job a few weeks ago, and he’s not sure how he’s going to get to that job on Monday.

“Right before Christmas, this is the last thing I need.”

It’s just one of the problems caused by Mother Nature. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like she’s going to give us a break anytime soon.