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COMO 4 NEWS STARTS RIGHT NOW.
Good evening once again.
Fall floods are keeping a lot of people out of their homes
and in some cases out of their hometowns.
It's a mess out there and a serious problem for a lot of people
as we're going to show you right now in our Team 4 coverage.
We have reports from the Preston area where a washed out road
is keeping people from their homes.
We're live along the Skyecomish River near Highway 2
where people are on edge because that river is running so high.
We're live in Mount Vernon where the Skagit River is above flood stage
and expected to crest tonight in the South Sound in Orting,
the rescue of four people who were trapped
when they got into deep water around their van.
Como 4's Keith Eldridge was there for the rescue
and the relief of the family when it was all over.
The Carbon River swelled over its banks so quickly
that many folks who live at its edge were caught by surprise.
Four people are trapped inside that van.
Their two dogs are with them.
They tried driving out to safety but got stuck
as the water continued to rise around them.
They were wet, they were cold, they were scared
and they just wanted to go home. They wanted to be out.
Bring in the Coast Guard.
A helicopter rescue team from Port Angeles was called on
because the river rescue folks felt it was too dangerous
to bring the four adults across the raging water
that continued to rise every second.
At the time, to get across, it was too deep
and too much of a risk to get them across.
So one by one, the Coast Guard helicopter crew
lifted the four victims to safety.
It was a delicate operation because of the high risk
of water and water vaporization,
because of the heavy currents,
and because of the heavy woods.
This was right in the midst of huge stands of trees.
The helicopter couldn't move, otherwise the victims
would have snagged in the tree limbs.
But all four got out okay, surviving quite a scare.
You thought you could run.
That's the part that's ugly.
It's ugly and I don't ever want to do it again.
Is this when you think you've got enough time?
Sorry, it's not fun.
But it was fun when they heard that the river rescue folks
went back in and rescued the two dogs from the van
before it was underwater.
They're so cool, they can save my dogs.
That was what I was really worried about.
I don't care about the house,
I just cared about the people and my dogs.
We are also keeping an eye on the Skagit River,
where it is expected to crest tonight at about 10 o'clock.
For more on that, we go to Como 4's April Zepeda,
who is live in Mount Vernon,
with more on the rising river there.
April?
More than a thousand volunteers showed up in Mount Vernon
here today to try and help build this very long wall of sandbags.
Now, the river won't crest for another five hours,
but people know all too well what's happening upriver.
A hundred members of the National Guard and 50 state troopers
are in Skagit County helping with evacuations.
An untold number of people have left their homes for higher ground.
And so we're out of there now.
Went and got the dogs,
and pretty much we're just going to go walk back there,
check it out.
Make sure nothing's damaged?
Make sure nothing's damaged.
The river swallowed roads and carts,
leaving much of the low-lying areas of the Skagit Valley underwater.
It's risen up and over the road,
and now it's protruding onto the railroad tracks,
and I don't know what the next verdict is,
how much farther it's going to go up.
Downriver in Mount Vernon,
volunteers worked through the night building a 1,400-foot wall of sandbags.
Mother Nature is sometimes unpredictable.
Obviously, there are things that we just want to make sure that we build a strong levee.
The river is expected to crest eight feet above flood stage
and possibly spill over the revetment that protects the city.
But volunteers are ready with this second line of defense.
We feel very confident and just waiting it out.
At one point, police closed the bridge in Mount Vernon
over worries that huge logs rushing downriver would weaken the base.
And fears that levees might be at risk caused action downriver in Stanwood.
The Red Cross evacuated 150 elderly from a nursing home with almost no notice.
A pair of pants and that was it.
I was too emotionally upset.
I didn't exactly know what to take with me.
The Weather Service has warned officials in Skagit County
to expect worse conditions than in 2003
when flooding caused 17 million dollars in property damage.
But no one will know for sure until the river crests in several hours.
Now the county says it's very possible that the waters will spill into the streets,
but very doubtful that it will breach this wall of sandbags.
Of course, we'll know when it crests at 10 o'clock tonight.
Reporting live in Mount Vernon, April Zepeda, Coma 4 News.
Could be a tense night there, April.
Thank you.
The helicopter rescue of four people in Ording is just one of the stories there today.
Coma 4's Eric Chudisky is live in Ording to show us some really bad neighborhood flooding.
Eric?
Yeah, Dan. This is the Village Green subdivision.
And as you said, really bad flooding.
Take a look behind me.
The Puyallup River now cuts through here.
We're told that earlier this morning a levee broke in two spots.
There is some good news here.
The water is starting to recede, but the damage is already done here.
The frantic effort to stop the force of nature begins as waters rise,
carving away roads, overrunning levees, and narrowing options.
We're letting water out of the dam, and if the other levee breaks, we've got problems.
If the water goes down, we'll stay.
If it comes up, we'll just leave.
Brian Grams lived here more than a decade and never sandbagged before,
just as Richard Thompson never expected to see what he witnessed this morning.
Well, it was about 6.45 this morning.
I saw the mud trickle coming down the curb, and I knew it was coming from the river.
So I headed up and looked at the river and saw it bursting spanks.
What Graham and Thompson live on the ground, Air Force saw from the sky.
A whole neighborhood now run through by floodwaters.
Look at that.
Yep. Nice.
The river swallowed cars and lawns, leaving roads passable only by 4x4s,
but good news arrived by a different type of vehicle.
Attention all residents, water is receding. There will be no mandatory evacuation.
Not long after, blue sky broke and the reality of the damage floodwaters cause sets in.
We've got a major problem.
Everybody else is driving us.
Now those sandbags you're seeing right now may not need to be used.
We're being told again that the water is receding here.
The breaches in that levee have been repaired, according to officials we talked with about an hour ago.
Unfortunately, roads are still closed throughout the area,
and for those who cannot reach their home, at least two shelters are open.
Reporting live, Eric Shadisky, Como 4 News.
Hi, Demes. Eric, thanks very much.
Pierce County deputies say they're very busy rescuing people from the floods.
They say boats and helicopters have helped 52 people so far today and 15 dogs.
There are some things you can do they want to remind you to make sure you don't have to be rescued.
Fire crews say you should never drive through standing water or through barricaded areas.
If you live in a flood-prone area, make sure you check the weather conditions before heading out.
And if you're told to leave, they say go.
People who delay leaving often find themselves in dangerous situations.
The flooding is stranding a lot of folks in Snohomish County.
Como 4's Todd Johnson joins us in Sultan.
He's live along the banks of the Skyecomish River. Todd?
Kathy, I'm standing in the middle of downtown Sultan on Main Street.
Now, earlier today, this roadway was covered with about two feet of water,
but in the last couple of hours, the water has started to recede here a little bit.
However, that's not the case a little farther upstream near index,
where the Skyecomish is taking an even bigger toll.
There's no way out for many people who live in the Mount Index Riverside's neighborhood tonight.
150 home and cabin owners are trapped by the raging floodwaters of the Skyecomish River.
This area expects small floods each fall, but nothing like this.
When you live up here, it's just how it is. You get 11 months of beauty and one month of terror.
Every year, that's what you get. So you just prepare for that one month of terror.
It just came early this year, and worse than we've ever seen it.
Downstream along the Skyecomish in Sultan, the water is filling streets and entering homes.
Robert and Janet Peterson came home from a trip to eastern Washington this morning,
only to find their basement flooded out.
It was quicker. Yeah, and the second worst one, actually.
We know by how many steps are left by going down the basement.
The worst one were five steps left to come up to the main floor. This time there were six.
The messy cleanup is already underway at Sultan's post office.
Many businesses are closed with sandbags trying to keep any more water out.
Most of us have insurance on our buildings, but we do not have any insurance on contents.
So that's what was scary, yes. So if the contents go, they're gone.
Now, as I mentioned, the water here has started to recede.
We understand that hydrologists are telling us that the Skyecomish should be down below flood stage by sometime tomorrow.
And for the first time all day long, the rain has stopped.
It's appropriate enough now that we bring in my weather colleague Steve Poole for an update on the forecast.
Steve, tell me that this is a good sign, that it's going to be like this for a little while.
I'll tell you what, TJ, it is a good sign.
Some of you probably noticed as we wrapped up the day that we started to get a little bit of clearing out there.
Well, that clearing has continued into the nighttime hours and things are getting better.
Take a look here. We can show you on the satellite image.
So you can see for yourself how the storm has begun to shift to the southeast.
It's moving out to be replaced by cooler air. We're still going to get wet at times.
We'll have some showers, but nothing like what we've been through. You can see it on the Doppler radar too.
Yeah, a few showers lingering, but nothing like the last several days.
We're starting to take some counties off that map in terms of the flood warnings.
Still some in effect, but that doesn't mean the rivers are rising.
This is a list of the rivers, by the way, which have achieved record flooding throughout this flood cycle.
And it's a pretty healthy list.
And oh, by the way, we did some checking.
The largest lowland rain total we could find was Shelton with 12 inches of rain throughout the storm.
Anyway, the heavy rain is over for now. The showers remain.
The rivers have crested. They are now dropping. And the snow level is dropping in the mountains too.
And what that means is we're going to start to get some snowfall up there,
which will help to stabilize some of that moisture as well.
The direction is good. Thank goodness.
All right, I'll have more for you. We'll let you know about what's next coming up in the forecast in about 15 minutes.
Back to you.
Talk to you soon, Steve. Thank you.
On the east side, Upper Preston Road is washed out in two places.
People who live there can't get in and out.
And utility workers can't get in to restore power.
It's all happening near Preston along the appropriately named Raging River.
Come on, Denise Whitaker shows us its wrath.
The Raging River has certainly earned its name in the past, and it did again this week.
There was actually a mobile home sitting right here yesterday.
It's gone. The Raging River took it away.
The people who lived in that home have been building their dream house for years,
and they were about to move in in a couple of weeks.
There's no moving in now.
The river washed away the concrete retaining wall, and now it's eating away at the foundation.
So we're just here trying to save a few things out of the house.
Scott Riddout came to help his neighbor.
Homeowner Mike Nichols was too upset to talk with us on camera.
After watching their mobile home, with all of their things washed away, they evacuated.
The road to their neighborhood is now washed out.
We hurried up and got our car, one car on one side, one car on this side so we can go back and forth.
However, then the bridge approach washed out, and we had a mudslide.
The only way in or out is walking across the road that is slowly slipping into the river.
And we're just all kind of pulling together, and those who do have power are offering their homes
for neighbors to come and shower and cook up meats that would spoil otherwise and those types of things.
Yeah, we're kind of a community out here that steps back in time. We really take care of each other.
Even the Raging River can't keep these neighbors from voting.
They drove to the road closed signs, then hiked to the post office to mail their ballots.
In Preston, Denise Whitaker, Como Four News.
King County plans to check out that road this evening and maybe let one car at a time drive through on the shoulder.
Mail service incarnation is disrupted because of the flooding.
No mail is getting in or out of the post office there because roads to and from the post office are underwater.
Customers who rely on that post office can pick up express mail or prescription medicine
at the East Delivery Distribution Center, which is in Redmond.
You can really get a good look at how bad this flooding is from the air.
Como Four's Elisa Jaffe takes us up in Air 4 over some of the hardest hit towns.
In Sumner, a farmer who just days ago could walk to his animals now boats his way out to feed and comfort his stranded horses.
In Duval, the curious gather to see roads disappear.
Dangerously high floodwaters have cut off all roads into town.
A new Tolt River bridge leading to Carnation hardly serves a bridge's purpose.
Waterlogged residents row through the roads.
The flow at Snoqualmie Falls is so forceful and full, it looks like Niagara Falls.
Over Ording, Air 4 catches people walking in waders down roads that resemble rivers.
The Puyallup River rose so high, water hovers at rooftops.
And from Air 4, it's clear.
Classes are canceled at Tarmigan Ridge Elementary.
Muddy waters have flooded the school.
A sky-high view of this new Ording subdivision reveals the damage homeowners and realtors will be evaluating in the days ahead.
The houses here in Village Green go for about $325,000.
At least they did before the Puyallup devastated and isolated everyone.
The mess is in the homes and in the water.
On Highway 2 and Everett, crews try deflecting debris from the huge logjam developing under the highway.
And aerials of Skagit County's small town of Hamilton conjure up images of Hurricane Katrina.
In this community of about 400 people, there are no signs of roads, no signs of life, no signs of floodwaters letting up.
Alisa Jaffe, Como 4 News.
A lot of people impacted this time, Marani. Of course, there's never a good time for flooding.
And this time, it's happening on Election Day.
Find out what effect, if any, the weather is expected to have on the turnout today and the results.
And how to avoid getting ripped off if you need to repair your rain-soaked home.
Problem Solver Connie Thompson has important information coming up.
A high-tech I.D. chip, no bigger than a grain of rice. It can make it easy for thieves to scan and clone their private information.
All it takes is standing beside you for a few seconds.
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So why are these chips now being put in credit cards and passports?
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Is there absolute security? No.
What can you do to protect your identity?
Watch Wednesday at 11 o'clock. Como 4 News, working for you.
They're not just about their features, but how well they come together.
The
Tonight's other big story is the election.
Yeah, in Washington, voters are choosing their U.S. Senator, voting for their representative in the U.S. House, as well as several ballot issues and judicial races.
Another hotly contested race is for a seat on the state Supreme Court, House and Senate positions in Olympia, and a lot of local races and referendums.
Como 4's political analyst Brian Johnson joins us now from our newsroom, where he's been talking to campaign leaders about tonight's election. Brian?
Well, Kathy, you know, as I watched all the footage you had of floods everywhere,
I thought of the flood that's been hitting us for the past few weeks of advertisements.
And the legislative leaders and the political campaigners all agree it was unprecedented.
And as a result, perhaps, we're getting an unprecedented turnout, 67 percent, according to Secretary of State Sam Reid.
And all day today, Democrats and Republicans have both been working hard to get that number even higher.
Hearing a lot about how long it's going to take to count the votes, especially in King County, what's the problem?
Dan, you know what an abacus is? You know, that's where you used to slide beads back and forth to count.
King County's adding machines for votes are about from the abacus era.
They haven't been updated in years. They're much slower than any other county.
Tonight, they'll only be able to count about 25 percent of the absentees they've got in.
That could drag the results out for several days.
And I know you were checking people out at your polling place today, Brian.
What was your feel about the weather? Was that affecting anything?
I don't know, Kath, but the best way to answer it is this.
Democrats tend to stay home when it pours. They think, ah, I don't want to go out in this stuff.
Republicans who are out to just spread the message somehow turn out in droves.
Could that have an effect? Maybe.
We just have to wait and see after the first votes are announced shortly after 8 tonight.
All right, well, we'll see if you're right or wrong, and we'll be checking with you a little later.
Brian Johnson, thank you.
And our coverage does begin as soon as the polls close at 8 tonight.
We'll have all the results on Como 4 News at 11.
And again, an update tomorrow morning, too, on Como 4 News from 5 to 7 a.m.
Well, you have to think, as the rain came down all day today,
a lot of people were kind of wishing they had used one of those mail-in ballots.
Yeah, true, Dan, but I think one of the things that's going on now is the rain's tapering off,
just as a lot of folks are getting home from work, and, you know, if you didn't vote before...
Polls are still open.
Polls are still open, and everything is clearing out pretty nicely.
So regardless of your political affiliation, the weather's not going to be an issue for you tonight.
So let's take a look at what's going on outside right now.
At this point, our city is beginning, well, to dry out just a touch,
and goodness knows we need it, given what we've been through.
So let's take a look at what we did today.
Still got a half an inch of rain in the rain gauge,
but you probably noticed as we wrapped up the day, things are starting to get a little better.
56 and 51 is what we did today.
53 and 41 is normal for this time of year, and the Doppler radar tells the story here.
So if you are going to get out here over the next several hours, it's a lot better,
and the roads are going to get a chance to dry out.
Now, there's still going to be a few showers around, but the heavy, steady stuff,
that appears to be on its way out of here.
You can kind of see for yourself, this is kind of moving on through.
What's back here is some cooler air.
Cooler air drives down snow level in the mountains.
It also kind of gives us a chance to push the steady rain aside
and replace it with some showers, and that's really the direction we're headed here.
We've got low 40s to mid 40s for your lows tonight, so it'll be a little cooler at night,
and it'll be a little cooler tomorrow during the day.
But the big news is heavy, steady rain, see ya.
50 in Seattle, 51 in Redmond, 49 in Bothell.
Down south will be in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees as well.
Maybe low 50s in some locales.
As I mentioned, though, the overall story is you're not going to have to deal with as much of this heavy rain,
and that's exactly what we need.
We sort of take that fire hose coming out of the Pacific, if you will, and move it on out of here.
Maybe even start to turn it off.
52 in Oak Harbor tomorrow, 51 in the San Juan, 50 in Victoria.
And along the coast, same story.
You might even get a couple of peaks at the sun as well.
I wouldn't bank on that too much, but the bottom line here is
drying out is what's going to happen for western Washington tomorrow.
Up in the Cascades, the snow level's going to start to go down.
We'll have afternoon past temperatures in the mid to upper 30s, freezing level 3000 feet.
That means we could see some snow flurries, and that actually helps, too.
It kind of stabilizes some of that moisture, freezes it, in effect, and then it doesn't get into the rivers.
50 in Wenatchee, 54 in Ellensburg.
Further east, we're mostly cloudy, got a few showers, but nothing like the west.
Upper 50s in the Tri-Cities, upper 40s in Spokane and Pullman.
All right, let's pull all this together for you.
We'll go mostly cloudy with a few showers tonight.
Tomorrow, some scattered showers in the morning hours.
Same thing in the afternoon.
We'll be somewhere in the low 50s for most of you.
Take a look. There's your extended forecast.
We've got your weekend always in view.
We've got a couple more rounds of rainfall coming our way.
It does not look as threatening.
What is going to get kind of interesting this weekend is the wind, but hey, that's another story.
Let's see how all that shapes up.
Okay, welcome to November.
So much happens around here this time of year.
Oh, yeah, we're getting real active.
Okay, thank you, Steve.
Thank you, Steve.
All the rain and flooding can mean major repairs to your home.
Coming up, Problem Solver Connie Thompson has advice on the repair backlog,
what some contractors are charging, and what to look for to make sure
you're getting an honest deal on your repairs.
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Local contractors say phones are ringing off the hook with people looking for help
with all the leaks and water damage repairs.
Come up for a problem, Salver County Thompson made some calls
and found a lot of contractors. This isn't too surprising.
They're booked all the way through the rest of the week.
They really are. I wanted to find out not only about the backlog,
but what are contractors charging?
And here's an idea of what you're facing.
If you have leaks or damage at your house, I called roofing and leaking repair contractors
in the Seattle, Bellevue, Everett areas and asked, how soon can you come?
Only one said he could come out today and check things out.
One said it would be two to three days maybe. Another said three to four days.
Another said it would be sometime next week.
And one already locked into pre-scheduled big jobs said they're booked through December 28th.
Now, I said for the biggie, how much do you charge? What are your rates?
One company said they charge $100 an hour plus materials.
Another had a $150 dispatch fee that includes tarping.
And then it's $50 an hour plus materials.
Another company has a basic fee of $250 for a couple of hours to patch the leak
or time and materials if it's a bigger problem.
And check this one, a maximum, rather a minimum of $350 plus tax at one company
and then time and materials if it's a bigger job.
Yet another company said they would come out and inspect and give you a quote based on the job.
So a big range and you will find the same rate differences with building and plumbing contractors.
Unfortunately, that information is telling you nothing about the quality of their work.
So don't just go with the first or cheapest offer.
Do what you can to prevent further damage and get referrals from people you trust.
Check registration and complaint records with the Department of Labor and Industries.
I'll put a link on our website.
And if you run into contractor problems, please let me know.
I'd also like to hear from you if you have problems filing a claim on your flood insurance.
That's coming up.
Call our problem solver tip line, 1TVTIPS KOMO, or email us at problemsolvers at comopornews.com.
You're so frantic when something like this is happening, but you're saying take your time and make a good decision.
A smart one.
Alright, thanks, Connie.
Next, there's a lot more to show you from our floods.
We're live all over the region, including Mount Vernon, where the next few hours will make the difference between relief and disaster.
A dramatic rescue caught on videotape in Oregon, what this woman was trying to do when she got caught in the fast-rising floodwater.
We'll be right back.
The weather authority, KOMO 4 News, working for you.
The factory direct and save the jewelry exchange in Renton.
Call 1-800-99-9999 for a complimentary consultation or click on Ask KOMO for more information.
It's a wet and muddy mess out there tonight.
The rain just kept coming. Rivers overflowed their banks and several neighborhoods are flooded.
Roads are closed.
Some people got trapped in high water, leading to dramatic rescues like this one.
Well, the rain might be letting up now, but the flood danger does remain as several communities brace for what could be disaster.
We have crews all over Western Washington covering the floods, including Falls City, Mount Vernon, and Sultan.
But we continue our Team Fort coverage now with KOMO 4's Eric Shadisky for an update live in Orting.
Eric?
The driver says he saw water break through that levee early this morning.
Cars in the first floors of homes were swallowed by that flood.
Residents here sandbagged most of the day.
This early in the event, though, we don't know how much damage may have been caused.
We are being told at this point the damage to the levees has been repaired.
Reporting live from Pierce County, Eric Shadisky, KOMO 4 News.
The flooding is a problem.
It's the Skye-Comish River that spilled over its banks here.
It flooded much of downtown Sultan.
Schools were closed and many of the roads were impassable today.
But the good news is the water is starting to recede and some of the roads are starting to reopen.
Upstream, it's a bit of a different story.
We took a drive up to the Mount Index Riverside neighborhood earlier today, and there the weather is a real mess.
The Skye-Comish River has shut off this neighborhood.
We're told there are 150 home and cabin owners that are trapped tonight.
The main road that runs into that neighborhood has been washed out, and we're told it could be two to three days before they can get most of the people out, and they will have to come out on foot.
That's the only way they're going to be able to make it all the way down from that neighborhood and then back out up near Index.
Of course, the situation here in Sultan is starting to improve a little bit tonight, and we understand that the Skye-Comish is going to be dropping below flood stage tomorrow.
Live in Sultan, Todd Johnson, Como, 4 News.
It took a thousand volunteers two days to build this very long wall of sandbags here in Mount Vernon.
In about three and a half hours, they will be tested.
They'll find out if it holds against the Cresting Skagit River.
It's connected to Crest at eight feet above flood stage, and the people here have seen what's been happening upriver.
Untold evacuations, the National Guard, Washington State Patrol, all here to assist.
Now, the county says it's very likely that the waters will spill over the cement embankment, but very unlikely that it will crest this wall.
Of course, we'll find out when the water does crest at 10 o'clock tonight.
Reporting live in Mount Vernon, April Zepeda, Como, 4 News.
I'm Liz Rocha in North Bend, where the water is nearly knee-deep, and the locals tell me they haven't seen a flood like this in decades.
Eastside firefighters had to rescue a pregnant woman, her husband, and elderly mother after a rain-swollen creek jumped its banks and surrounded their home.
They had tried to hold back the flood water with sandbags, but the water proved just too swift.
Downriver rescuers say high water has shut down all routes in and out of Carnation and Duval.
The National Weather Service says they've never seen the Snoqualmie River this high.
And heavy flooding down south has forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes.
The Lewis County Sheriff's Department says flooding changed the course of the Cowlitz River at Packwood.
300 homes are now threatened there by flood water, and residents of the High Valley area were ordered to evacuate.
Just yesterday, hundreds of campers sought higher ground.
An elk hunter died when a riverbank collapsed, sending his car into the river.
Families that live in the riverside area between Puyallup and Tacoma had to head to higher ground.
Many people left last night as the Puyallup River kept rising.
But a few families stayed until another evacuation advisory went out today.
It was a similar scene at many homes as people packed whatever they could at the very last minute,
put it in their cars and moving trucks, and tried to get to safety.
The swollen White River flooded parts of Sumner.
You can see from this video from Air 4, an entire house nearly submerged in muddy water.
And look at those two poor horses out there, stranded with water all around.
We saw people using a boat to deliver fresh food to their horses.
And the bad weather is not confined to western Washington.
Firefighters had to rescue a woman trapped by raging flood water near Mount Hood this morning.
Check this out. The woman and her husband were evacuating when she went back into their house to get some sandbags.
Well, she ended up stuck, and she had to be pulled out with a rope and harness.
The woman is okay, but her home is now underwater.
Of course, Como 4 News will keep you informed on all the new developments with the fall floods.
Steve will have an updated forecast in a bit.
And you can also get constant updates online at comotv.com and on the radio, too, with Como 1000 News.
Police in Everett have a pretty big mystery on their hands.
They're trying to figure out the identity of a woman found dead in the trunk of a stolen car.
Police first spotted the car, parked it illegally. They towed it to an impound lot.
They checked. They found out it was stolen, so they started going through the car.
And that's when they found the body in the trunk.
Police aren't saying how the woman died, but they say it definitely looks like she was murdered.
One of Seattle's most prolific car thieves pleaded guilty today.
Liam Moynihan is facing 25 counts of first-degree theft.
We're told he admits he stole 136 cars in six months.
At his sentencing next month, prosecutors plan to ask for 10 years in prison.
Moynihan agreed to pay restitution to all 136 auto theft victims.
The polls close in about 90 minutes for the five counties in our state where people still vote in person.
Secretary of State Sam Reid predicts that voter turnout will be about 66 percent.
That would set a modern record in our state from midterm election.
Most people in our state have already cast their ballots by mail.
If you haven't yet mailed yours in, remember it has to be postmarked by midnight tonight to count.
Problems with voting machines plagued many districts across the country today.
A computer problem in Delaware County, Indiana shut down voting at 75 percent of their precincts.
In Cleveland, Ohio, some voting machines simply broke down, leading to long lines and frustrated voters.
And in South Carolina, new rules about identification prevented Governor Mark Sanford from casting a ballot in a different precinct.
My registration card is in Columbia.
We had the number, we could read it over the phone, but as a credit to the bowl, she says,
you got to have the cards.
Governor Sanford did eventually cast his ballot.
Several states got court orders to extend voting hours to accommodate voters stuck in lines because of all those problems.
A poll worker in Kentucky is accused of attacking a voter.
Police say the worker choked a man and threw him out of the polling place when he refused to vote on a judicial race.
The man came back only to get thrown out again, and that's when elections officials called police.
The worker faces charges of assault and interfering with an election.
We have the election covered for you tonight with live updates throughout the evening once the polls close at 8.
And you can get up to the minute results on our website, comotv.com.
Join us for full coverage with results, reaction and what it all means tonight on Como 4 News at 11.
Boeing stock soars as its big rival Airbus takes a hit.
Next in Money Works, which company just canceled an order for the Airbus A380 Jumbo Jet?
And the order in place with Boeing instead.
Microsoft ups the ante in the video game war, what it's doing to attract more people to its Xbox Live game system.
And I'm Steve Poole. Something pretty important is missing from that radar image.
The rain. Yeah, things are getting better.
I'll tell you how much better and when we may have to deal with the rain again.
Stick around. Como 4 News is back right after this.
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The Great Domestic Violence. Brought to you by the King County Domestic Violence Council.
Welcome to Frontier Bank. We're the largest commercial bank based in Western Washington.
But that doesn't mean we're gonna treat you like a number. We like to deal with first names.
And we're gonna start by giving you some of ours.
I'm Robin. I manage our main office in Everett.
Hi, I'm Mike. I manage our Sumner office.
Hi, I'm Marilyn. Manager of our Evergreen Way office.
Now you know some of our names and we promise to get to know yours.
Frontier Bank. The high touch bank. Member FDIC.
Combo 4's Money Works is brought to you in part by Frontier Bank.
The financial markets had a pretty good day, even with news coming out that the economy is losing momentum.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 51 points to close at 12,156.
The Nasdaq gained nearly 10 points to end the day at 2,375.
The S&P 500 had a gain of 3 points to close at 1,382.
Boeing stock was a big boost for the Dow. Up more than $4 a share.
On news that Federal Express is the first company to cancel orders for the Airbus Super Jumbo A380.
FedEx will buy Boeing 777s instead.
FedEx says the two-year production delay for the A380 is just unacceptable.
It had planned to buy ten of the big jumbo jets.
Now FedEx will buy 15 777s with options for 15 more.
It's a deal worth about $3.5 billion.
Boeing is confident it can trim weight from its new jet, the 787, and keep it on schedule.
Engineers need to drop two and a half tons from the Dreamliner about the weight of a pickup truck.
The weight of the 787 is key to meeting the plane's fuel saving promise.
Boeing is adding jobs here, more than 700 people last month.
Its Washington employment is now nearly 68,000.
That's a four and a half year high.
Microsoft wants to keep you in front of your Xbox 360.
They say they're going to offer movies now and TV show downloads through the game system.
They're also going to have Mission Impossible 3 and shows like CSI will be available through Xbox Live later this month.
A deal with some studios and networks like CBS and Warner Brothers makes the service possible.
Some of the content will be in HD.
No word on how much the downloads will cost.
I'll check out what will be the new home for the Gates Foundation.
This is an idea of what it will look like.
Our newspaper partners at the Seattle P.I. report the City of Seattle approved the plans
for the foundation's headquarters yesterday.
The headquarters will start taking shape on lower Queen Anne right next to the Seattle Center in 2008
after the foundation heads back to the city for permits.
Next, a threatening note forces a major airport to close two runways.
Severe weather hits overseas.
The aftermath of a rare tornado in Japan when we come back.
We're down the water and holes and wheels hitting on down to the Big D.
And they done brung the whole kit and caboodle.
We're just bouncing like jackrabbits on our El Paso parking lot.
It's big fun in the Big D all week on Wheel.
Tonight at 7 on Como 4.
I can't protect you.
Can't tell you to take another route.
Or make the driver look before he turns.
I don't in fact even know you.
But I'll be there to help you heal and ride like new again.
Just like you'll be there for me.
We are all connected and thousands strong.
Regents, together we can take charge.
If you're looking for fun and excitement, look no further than the Emerald Queen Casino.
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Come on down and celebrate with Free Dog Night on the Emerald Queen stage.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or at the Emerald Queen Casino I-5 Tacoma,
the entertainment capital of the Northwest.
Upon first glance, this would appear to be an Oreo Blizzard from Dairy Queen.
But look closer and you'll see that it's actually an original DQ chicken strip basket.
Look closer still and you'll see that it comes with fries, Texas toast, and country gravy.
Great treats and great food.
At DQ, there's more than one way to treat yourself when you look a little closer.
And finish off with a DQ Blizzard of the month.
I make a change, changes everywhere.
Why pay over twice as much at a department store when you can buy the exact same outfit at Ross?
Changes, changes everywhere.
Ross, there's no comparison.
A major part of the airport in Philadelphia was shut down today after a suspicious note was found on a plane.
The U.S. Airways flight from San Diego landed safely after the note was found.
Police interviewed everybody on board, 127 people trying to figure out who wrote that threatening note.
No arrests have been reported and the Philadelphia airport is at full operation again.
The latest wildfire in Southern California is now contained.
A welder spark ignited brush near an interstate in Rialto, east of Los Angeles.
The wind helped spread it. More than 600 acres burned before they contained this.
A lumber yard was destroyed. No homes were damaged and there are no injuries.
At least nine people were killed today when a rare tornado hit a remote town in northern Japan.
The victims were all construction workers. They were working on a tunnel.
Hundreds of homes are without power or phone service.
Japanese officials say it was the strongest tornado on record in that country.
And take a look at the world's tallest living man. His name is Shishun.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the 55-year-old man was killed in a tornado.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the 55-year-old from China stands nearly seven feet nine inches.
He's visiting Rio de Janeiro to sign copies of the records book and to promote Guinness World Record Day, taking place on Thursday.
Guinness is asking people to try to break a world record on that day.
We're breaking a few records around here with rainfall and flooding.
Have we turned the corner? Let's get an update from Steve.
Yeah, I think so. You probably noticed it as we wrapped up the day. We got a little bit of sunlight.
Probably hurt your eyes because you haven't seen it in a while.
But at any rate, yeah, we're seeing signs that things are about to get better around here.
Let's get to the details and we'll let you know how and why we have turned indeed a corner.
Mostly cloudy, 51 degrees. Still a little breezy out there. 2980 steady barometer.
We got 83% on our humidity. Let's take a look at what we have done today.
At this point, we actually managed to finish up pretty much in the low 50s for most folks.
But this is what I wanted to show you. First of all, this rain totals for a 48 hour period.
Pretty impressive stuff. And now this does not include what happened on obviously back to Friday.
So you put it all together, I think a lot of these totals would be probably double what you have right now.
In fact, we did check on I think the biggest total we were able to find for the entire storm was 12 inches.
And that was in Shelton. Wow. Take a look at the Doppler radar. That tells the tale for now.
The rain is definitely abating. So that's the good news. We can take some of the pressure off our rivers.
We're also seeing the air mass cool down a little bit. And I'll show you how that works.
Right back in here, what you see here is cooler air. Now there's some showers embedded in that.
So we're probably still going to get wet at times, but nothing like what we've just been through.
In fact, this is kind of good news. In addition to the steady rain going away, we lowered the snow level.
That kind of stabilizes everything up there because you start to freeze some of that stuff at the higher elevations.
It doesn't just run right down into the rivers. Overnight lows will be in the low 40s to the mid 40s, as you see.
So it's going to be a little cooler overnight. Scattered showers. Pretty much the story. Tomorrow, same deal.
We'll be in the upper 40s to right around 50 degrees. So a touch cooler for your daytime highs.
Up in the Cascades, there's that lower snow level. We're going to get some snow flurries with afternoon pass temperatures in the 30s.
And again, that's kind of helpful in that regard. And then along the eastern slopes, you have fortunately been able to escape some of this stuff.
But at any rate, you've got 50 in Chelan, 58 in Wenatchee, and 55 in Yakima.
For the rest of eastern Washington, you're pretty much talking low 50s there. Upper 40s in Spokane and in Pullman.
So here's the story. You're mostly cloudy tonight. You've got a few showers coming at you throughout the morning hours.
And that's basically the same story in the afternoon. Lingering showers, I think, pretty much describes it.
But hey, that sounds pretty good to me, given what we've been through.
Take a look. There's your extended forecast. Got your weekend always in view. Some rain. We'll be back.
But it doesn't look like of the same intent, attitude, whatever.
Ilk. Ilk. Yeah. We don't like its attitude at all.
You don't get to say that word often enough. How often do you hear ilk on the news? Just doesn't happen a lot.
Thank you. That's probably a reason for that. Thank you, Steve.
We are working for you.
A high-tech I.D. chip. It can make it easy for thieves to scan and clone your private information.
So why are these chips now being put in static cards and passports?
And why are they being put in a safe place?
Well, it's a good question.
And I'm not going to lie.
I'm not going to lie.
So why are these chips now being put in static cards and passports?
A Como 4 News problem solver investigation. Wednesday at 11 o'clock. Only on Como 4 News.
You ready, David? They're going to be videotaping us tonight.
What?
The old football injury's acting up again. I don't think I can go dancing tonight.
It's the price you pay for being four-time All-State champ.
I could have sworn you hurt the other leg, David.
I'll see you in the car.
Trouble remembering online medical records from group health medical centers.
Don't make me wear this shirt.
Just another way we're changing health care.
If you had a mouse in your home, you'd trap it.
Well, you have things like dust mite debris, bacteria, pollen and mold spores in your air.
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You're going to cringe in just a second.
So go ahead and cringe at will.
It wasn't exactly a work of art, but the Hawks got a win.
They're five and three. They're still in first place.
And at least one guy might consider wearing a protective cup the way catchers do.
You've seen this, right?
The fourth quarter, Tyler Brayton, the grandson of my former Cougar baseball coach, Bobo Brayton, need, look at that,
need Jeremy Stevens right in the groin.
Brayton was immediately ejected from the game.
Stevens was getting under the Raiders' skin all night, apparently.
Brayton reached his breaking point, lost his cool.
If he hadn't lost it on Stevens, Raider defensive end Warren Sapp might have been next in line.
86 a punk. He's always been a punk. He always will be a punk.
When he learns how to play the game, then maybe somebody will acknowledge him as a player in this league.
But other than that, he's a punk.
We were out there playing football, you know, and there wasn't anything said.
It was him getting beat on plays.
You know, I wasn't out there talking. I was out there playing.
When you see the tape, it shows that he got kicked first in the reactor.
So there's some culpability on the part of the other individual.
That was some ugly stuff right there.
Mike Holmgren said today that Sean Alexander won't play Sunday against the Rams.
The cracked bone in his foot is still not completely healed.
Alexander may be running later this week, but he'll need a full week of practice before he's game ready.
His first game back now could be November 19th against the 49ers.
And Matt Hasselbeck could return to practice later this week, but he's not expected to play against the Rams either.
The Apple Cup, as it turns out, could end up having a bowl game right on the outcome.
The only way the Huskies can earn a postseason trip is to win their final two games.
It starts with winless Stanford on Saturday, then of course, the Apple Cup.
If we can finish strong, okay, this will be, I think, far better than a lot of people thought we would be,
but far less than what we thought we could do.
In Japan today, Ryan Howard hit a solo home run in the eighth inning that broke a 2-2 tie
and led a team of Major League All-Stars to a 7-2 win over a team of Japanese All-Stars.
The Major Leaguers have now won the first four games of their five-game Pan Pacific Road trip.
And tonight at 11 o'clock, you guys, highlights of the Sonics against the Miami Heat.
They're on the road now. They're on the road, yes.
It's a crucial, crucial trip. You're exactly right.
Alright, thanks. We'll be right back.
Thanks for joining us.
We'll be right back.
We're called Clyde West at 1-800-935-5933.
Volvo, more care built in.
An identity thief targets a cancer patient.
Didn't expect me to be around to fight back.
Eric didn't take it lying down. He fought back from his hospital bed and found the thief that was closer than he thought.
Then play an all-new News You Can Use tomorrow at 3 on Combo 4's Northwest.