Severe storm drops onto Thurston County, cutting power and closing roads

A severe thunderstorm blew through Thurston County about 4:30 Thursday at brisk clip, bringing thunder, lightning and quarter-size hail and leaving destruction in its wake.

Yelm Highway was completely closed near Indian Summer when a huge bank of wires came down on the road.

Some drivers were trapped under fallen wires near Yelm after power lines crashed down on them. Emergency crews guided them out from under the wires.

A tree also was reported down on Old Highway 99 about 4:30 p.m.

Puget Sound Energy was still reporting widespread power outages in Tumwater and Lacey and areas south of there at 7 p.m., and that left many intersections without functioning traffic signals.

As of 5:15 p.m., there were 75 calls for fire and emergency aid for downed lines and trees, water over the roadways and other emergencies related to the storm, a Thurston County dispatcher said over the scanner.

Rain is expected to start up again overnight, but the wind, thunder, lightning and hail had moved north by early evening. After a high of about 75 on Thursday afternoon, temperatures were expected to remain in the 50s overnight and into Friday.

Strong straight-line winds took down trees and blew the roof off a shop in East Olympia, though National Weather Service meteorologists do not believe a tornado came through the area. Gusts at the Olympia Regional Airport nearby reached up to 50 mph.

This story was originally published May 4, 2017 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Severe storm drops onto Thurston County, cutting power and closing roads."