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Wind, rain play havoc on the area |
Fallen trees, downed power lines, blackouts,
washed-out roads and more troubles strike as a tropical storm
settles over northwest Oregon and southwest Washington |
By the Newberg
Graphic news staff
E-mail at
thegraphic@eaglenewspapers.com
|
The fury of Mother Nature crashed down on northwest Oregon and
southwest Washington Thursday evening, wreaking havoc on communities
via blocked roads and widespread blackouts.
Few residents of Newberg and Dundee were spared some inconvenience
from the storm, forecast by the National Weather Service early
Thursday to bring high winds and driving rain.
Anthony
Schwisow was returning home from work at about 7 p.m. Thursday when
he discovered bright yellow fire tape cordoning off a sidewalk near
his home, at the corner of Meridian and Sixth streets. Upon further
inspection he discovered an ancient oak tree that had been uprooted
by high winds, fallen across his utility shed.
It was when he ran into his next door neighbor, though, that he
discovered the true extent to the damage: while the base of the tree
lay across his shed, the top of the tree fell across the back of the
woman’s house, landing between her and another resident’s home. A
sunroom on the woman’s house was crushed, but no one was injured.
She was in the basement and she said she heard a loud crash,
Schwisow said, adding “It could have been a lot worse.”
On Hawthorne Loop, meanwhile, a 40-foot Monkey Pine tree slowly
leaned over and came to rest against Debbe Myers’ home.
“We’ve got a crushed gutter, crushed fascia boards, but otherwise
no damage,” she said. “We were so lucky.”
Damage widespread across county
Lt. Ken Summers reported Friday morning that the sheriff’s office
was inundated with 9-1-1 calls reporting high water and power
outages beginning late Thursday afternoon.
Summers reported no major injuries from the storm, although fire
personnel from Amity and Sheridan had to extricate a woman from a
car overcome by high water on Bellevue Road near Amity. Barricades
had been erected on the road, Summers said, but they were washed
away by the flooding Yamhill River. The woman was trapped in three
to four feet of water when fire personnel reached her.
As of 10 a.m. Friday morning, Wilsonville, Parrish, North Valley,
Bald Peak and Worden Hill roads near Newberg remained closed after
80 mph winds struck parts of the county.
“The road crews are working like mad trying to clear the roads ...
but it’s going to be awhile,” Summers said.
Downed power lines and blocked roads were common throughout the
county, he added.
Traffic incidents were few, Summer said, although a Newberg
motorist did strike a tree early Friday morning on North Valley
Road. Flares warning motorists of the downed tree had gone out by
the time the man reached the crash site. The driver first struck the
branches of the large Douglas fir, cushioning the impact into the
trunk of the tree.
The cities of Lafayette, Carlton, Yamhill and Willamina were
totally without power during much of the night, Summers reported,
with sporadic outages in Newberg and McMinnville.
Ten sheriff’s deputies from the day shift were held over
until 2 a.m. Friday to deal with calls, he added.
Fire personnel kept busy
Members of the Newberg Fire Department responded to around 50 calls
during the storm.
“We had a couple trees that fell on houses, and one that landed on
a car,” said Lt. Chris Mayfield. “It was busy — we had calls from
one end of our service area to the other, until the storm let up
around 2 a.m.”
There were no injuries, Mayfield added.
Mayfield said his department struggled to contact crews to repair
downed power lines.
“We couldn’t get through to PGE all night,” he said. “Dispatch had
to fax them reports because the lines were so busy.”
The Dundee Fire Department took 11 service calls during the storm,
and were still dealing with a blocked rural road, Chief John Stock
said.
At press time, city workers were still waiting for PGE crews to
clear a power line brought down by a tree on 12th Street between
Chehalem and Willamette Street, said Russ Thomas, city maintenance
director.
“Once they cut the wire, we’ll go in and clear the right-of-way,”
he said. “There’s also a lot of (debris) to deal with around town,
and we may have to flush a few streets.”
Thomas said that “six or seven” trees had fallen across city
streets during the storm.
“There were a couple vehicles damaged, and we’re dealing with some
dangerous, leaning trees right now,” he said. “It’s all been on
private property, so tree disposal is the responsibility of the
owners.”
Despite the damage, Thomas added: “All in all, we came through this
pretty good.”
Storm emerges as planned
The National Weather Center in Portland reported heavy rain and 120
mph wind gusts in the area Thursday night. Complications from the
high winds and rain knocked out power to 245,000 PGE customers in
the region that covers much of the Portland metropolitan area, said
Kregg Arntson, PGE spokesman.
By press time Friday morning 2,700 Newberg area customers were
without power, down from a total of 5,200 since the storm began.
By noon Friday 70,000 PGE customers in the region were still
without power. “We’re bringing in extra crews from other states —
Washington and California — and there are more than 200 PGE crews
out working now,” Arntson said.
Wind conditions were complicated by recent heavy rains that left
soil in the region heavily saturated, which resulted in many downed
trees, PGE reported.
In a wind storm, downed power lines are common and can be
dangerous, PGE reported. Customers who see a downed line should
assume it is live and not touch it. Wires do not have to be directly
touched to be dangerous. Electricity can flow through metal or water
to cause serious injury.
If a wire falls on a car, remain inside the car where it is safe,
PGE suggests. New power outages or down power lines should be
reported to PGE at 503-464-7777.
School district cancels events
The Newberg School District canceled all afterschool events
Thursday afternoon and power was off in some schools in the
district. But the power was back on in time for students to attend
classes Friday morning, although some buses were relegated to snow
routes, wrote Claudia Stewart, school district spokeswoman.
Forecast? Rain, floods and snow
A flood watch will remain in effect until this morning (Saturday),
reported the National Weather Service in Portland.
The National Weather Service predicted more rain Friday and snow
showers today (Saturday) with highs around 40 degrees and a low of
28 degrees. A chance of more snow is predicted Sunday. |
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From
Dec. 16,
2006, Newberg Graphic
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