PORTLAND, Ore. —
After days of snow, ice, strong winds and frigid temperatures, the trees in the Portland metro area have taken the brunt of the storms.
As of Wednesday morning, Portland Parks and Recreation had received at least 380 reports of downed trees since the winter weather arrived on Saturday. The Portland Bureau of Transportation had responded to roughly 100 downed trees blocking roadways.
And that was just in the city proper. The toll on trees across the region likely numbers much higher.
But Dylan Rivera, spokesman for PBOT, said that as far as the most recent spate of freezing rain, he expected the toll to be worse on Portland roadways.
“We saw shockingly few today,” he said Wednesday morning. “We were bracing for many more trees to fall into streets this morning.”
Rivera said that 35 roads in Portland remained closed because of fallen trees, but the only streets that were blocked Wednesday morning were due to crashes on slick roads.
Still, the danger posed by falling trees is far from over.
Around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, firefighters responded to reports of a car fire on Northeast Siskiyou Street near 122nd Avenue. Power lines, likely knocked down by a tree limb, had fallen on a vehicle and three people — two adults and a teenager — were killed.
A 9-month-old in the vehicle survived and was taken to a hospital but was said to be in good condition.
Two others, one in Lake Oswego and the other in Southeast Portland, were killed over the weekend when trees fell on their residences.
And it appears that the ice will not be thawing quickly. Temperatures in Portland just barely crept above freezing on Wednesday and many trees in the area remained coated in ice.
Portland Parks and Recreation asked residents to report downed trees on public property by calling 503-823-TREE. Unfortunately for many homeowners, trees that come down on private property are the owner's responsibility.
For his part, Rivera said PBOT was working hard to get as much tree debris cleared from roadways as quickly as possible.
“We're getting our eyes on every street closure today; that's our goal,” he said. “And we continue to do what we can to move that tree debris off of the streets.”
Beyond that, he urged caution and asked residents to stay vigilent about the threat of falling trees.
“We have all our fingers and toes crossed that we won't see any more trees down in city streets, but we always prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”