PORTLAND, Ore. — Thousands of Portland General Electric (PGE) customers in parts of northwestern Oregon were without power Wednesday morning. PGE reported that many of the outages are weather-related or caused by downed trees.
At the height of the storm, there were more than 36 outages and about 11,500 customers in the dark, according to PGE's outage map. As of 1 p.m., there were about 300 people without power. PGE crews have been working to restore power.
The majority of the outages are along Highway 26 in Sandy, Welches and Government Camp.
"Areas that typically feel the east wind are absolutely feeling it this morning," said KGW meteorologist Chris McGinness during the Sunrise shows.
He reported that Crown Point in the Columbia River Gorge clocked a wind gust of 84 mph Wednesday morning. McGinness also said Corbett, Oregon had wind gusts at 70 mph, and the area of Camas, Washington had wind gusts to 45 mph. The winds are expected to gradually ease.
Neighborhoods around the Portland metro area also saw fallen powerlines and trees. Downed powerlines were on the street and on top of cars near Northeast 47th Avenue and Northeast Going Street in Portland.
Tree branches were in the roadway near Southeast Francis Street and Southeast 154th Avenue in Portland.
A large tree fell down near Northeast Flanders Street and Northeast 176th Avenue, blocking the roadway.
Downed trees and power lines closed Highway 8 in both directions between Southeast Canyon Drive and Southwest Canyon Lane. The highway is back open, according to TripCheck.
A KGW viewer sent in photos of a tree that came down on a house in Washougal, Washington.
This is a developing story and it may be updated.
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