HOOD RIVER, Ore. — UPDATE (12/27) - A week after a car crashed into NW Natural facility, knocking out services to 5,500 customers, the system has been restored in White Salmon and Hood River. This was the largest outage the company has had in 65 years.
For customers who were not available, the first-time crews visited their home or business, a yellow door hanger was left with instructions to call for service restoration, officials from NW Natural said. Those customers need to call 800-882-3377 to reschedule a return visit.
UPDATE (12/25) - NW Natural crews are turning on meters and relighting equipment for customers without service in Hood River and Odell. The utility expects to reach every customer by the end of the evening.
Some customers will have to be revisited a second or third time over the weekend if they are not home on Christmas.
Service has been restored to the 1,500 customers in White Salmon and Bingen.
UPDATE (12/24) - NW Natural crews have reached all affected customers in White Salmon and Bingen to turn on meters and relight their appliances.
Crews expect to begin turning on meters in Hood River and Odell on Thursday. The process may take several days, the utility said.
More than 100 people are working Christmas Eve and crews will be working on Christmas to help restore service.
In the last two days, NW Natural has handed out about 1,300 portable heaters and 700 blankets to customers in need. This will continue today at these addresses and times:
- 1825 May Street, Hood River (across from the Fire Department), 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. today
- 119 NE Church Avenue, White Salmon (White Salmon Fire Department)., 1 p.m. – 6 p.m. today
Original story below.
More than 5,000 customers in White Salmon and Hood River are still without natural gas after a driver crashed a vehicle into a NW Natural district regulator station Sunday night.
There are around 1,500 customers in the White Salmon/Bingen area and NW Natural estimates that customers in those areas could get gas back sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday. In Hood River and Odell, roughly 4,000 are without natural gas and NW Natural says those customers could have their service restored on Wednesday. NW Natural says because of the large quantity of customers in Hood River and Odell with natural gas, it could be a few days before all customers have their service restored.
The utility says service technicians will go to every affected meter to turn it off before reintroducing gas to the system. Then, they will go door-to-door to restore service.
NW Natural says customers do not need to do anything and they should not relight their equipment.
Temperatures in Hood River and White Salmon are expected to drop to near or below freezing at night for the rest of the week.
NW Natural apologized for the outage and said crews are working as quickly as possible. Some employees volunteered to give up their holiday vacations to work on restoring gas service.
The utility is receiving additional help from about 40 technicians from other utilities through a mutual assistance program.
NW Natural says customers needing a place to stay can call any of the hotels listed below and NW Natural will cover the expense of the room. Customers just need to provide proof of their address or a copy of their gas bill.
Best Western Hood River
1108 E Marina Way
Hood River, OR 97031
(541) 386-2200
Holiday Inn Express The Dalles
2920 W 6th St, The Dalles, OR 97058
Hampton Inn
1 Nichols Pkwy, Hood River, OR 97031
(541) 436-1600
Holiday Inn Express
(541) 308-1000
Best Western Cascade Locks
735 Wanapa St, Cascade Locks, OR 97014
(541) 374-8777
The Dalles Shilo Inn
3223 Bret Clodfelter Way
The Dalles, OR 97058
(541) 298-5502
Motel 6
2014 W 7th St
The Dalles, OR 97058
541-296-1191
For customers needing a ride to a hotel, you're asked to call the Hood River County Emergency Management Hotline: 541-387-6911 for English and 541-387-7080 for Spanish. This hotline will be staffed from 4:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Tuesday and from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m Wednesday, Dec. 23.
Portable heaters and blankets are also being made available to families without natural gas. NW Natural customers should go to the temporary distribution center at 1825 May Street in Hood River, that's across from the fire department. The distribution center will be open from 4:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. Tuesday evening and 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Wednesday.