The whipping winds shut down several roads and bridges, and left much of the Puget Sound region in the dark, forcing two Seattle newspapers to skip a day.

Only about 13,000 copies of the Times were available Friday morning, while the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer went unpublished for the first time since a labor strike in 1936, Managing Editor David McCumber said.

The Seattle Times Co. prints both newspapers at the same factory under a joint-operating agreement that consolidates the papers' non-editorial functions.

McCumber said he was notified around 5 a.m. that the P-I might not be published, and another printing plant could not be found in time.

"Everything was pushed back and we just hit the wall," he said. "It's very, very distressing not to publish."

Times officials were working with Puget Sound Energy to restore the print plant's power Friday afternoon, but they were also looking for alternate facilities. The printing plant has backup generators, but they don't supply enough power to run the large presses, Times spokeswoman Corey Digiacinto said.

Both newspapers published news on their Web sites Friday, including free downloads of an electronic version of the paper.

The Times has not missed a day of publication since 1953, when a strike suspended publication for 94 days, Digiacinto said.

"Certainly, we were glad to get some out so that we can say, ostensibly, that we continued to publish," Times Executive Editor David Boardman said.

"That said, it's heartbreaking to not be able to get a paper out to all of our readers, especially at a time when a lot of them really need it," he said.

Meantime, transportation officials shut down the 520 Floating Bridge at 10:30 Thursday night, after wind gusts clocked in at 62 miles per hour at the storm's peak. The bridge can only sustain 50 mph winds for 15 minutes.

Crews then opened up the draw span to relieve pressure on the 43-year-old bridge.

But the bridge still took quite a beating, as the strong winds managed to pluck away three hooks connecting the two sides.

The pounding storm also shut down the Tacoma Narrows Bridge -- the first time ever the bridge has been closed due to wind -- and the Hood Canal Bridge. Both bridges have been reopened. The 520 reopened around 1:30 Friday afternoon.

The extreme weather also canceled Amtrak's Cascades service between Seattle and Portland. Service will not be restored until 8 p.m. Saturday.

Amtrak is contacting affected passengers to alert them of the cancellations and providing an alternate ride on a motorcoach in place of some canceled trains.

Passengers are urged to contact Amtrak for information on the status of specific trains.

Sea-Tac Airport has had off-and-on problems with the windstorm. Airport officials shut down concourse C overnight, after wind blew in a window there. Officials also reported power outages in concourse A and south satellite.

Still, flights were still moving in and out of Sea-Tac, although some delays were reported during the height of the storm.

Then, Friday afternoon, another power outage knocked out some of the radars at the airport. Sea-Tac initially went into a ground stop, where no flights were allowed to leave or land, but were able to resume limited service later Friday evening.