PORTLAND, Ore. — Around 74,000 customers in the Portland metro area are still without power as of early Monday morning, down from a high of more than 200,000 on Saturday, as the region continues to deal with frigid temperatures the day after a winter storm that brought high winds, snow, sleet and freezing rain.
At around 7 a.m. Monday, PGE's outage map showed there were 2,241 outages impacting 73,538 customers across the northwest part of the state. Pacific Power reported 38 customers without power throughout the metro area and Clark Public Utilities reported 244 customers without power, also as of around 7 a.m. Monday.
Pacific Power's map shows about 7,800 customers without power across all of western Oregon, with the majority of those outages in the Eugene metro area.
The storm's impact reached beyond the Pacific Northwest. Lorraine Rose lives in California and has a 95-year-old mother in hospice at a rehabilitation center in Southwest Portland. The center has been without power all weekend. "She called me and said, 'I’m really cold and I’m scared. I know I’m going to die in not that long ... but this is not how I want to die,'" Rose said.
On Sunday afternoon, PGE said more than 1,100 personnel are responding to outages and working to restore power. They said more than 800 power lines were brought down by debris or tree limbs.
"We expect to make significant progress [Sunday] as mutual assistant crews arrive from across the Pacific Northwest and other regions, and as we repair transmission lines that will help to restore large groups of customers," said Drew Hanson, communications manager for PGE.
PGE said clearing limbs and trees and assessing the needs for repairs and restoration is the top priority Sunday.
The neighborhood on Southwest Alden Street was hit particularly hard. More than six trees toppled into yards and homes. Neighbors were out with chainsaws cleaning up the damage Sunday afternoon.
"It sounded like a battlefield. Just things going off boom boom boom all over the place," said Derek, whose yard was covered in fallen trees that barely missed his home. "You can see everything is just destroyed, the whole entire block."
PGE outage maps will be updated with estimated restoration times once crews arrive on site and can assess.
"We thank you for your patience as we continue to work to restore power," Hanson said. "Given the extent of the damage and the high number of outage events, restoration efforts will continue into the week and we are encouraging customers to plan accordingly."
Pacific Power said Sunday that it has brought in crews from other states to assist.
What to do if you're without power
If your power is out, contact PGE if you haven't already. You can report a power outage or get an update through:
- Text updates: Log into your PGE account and make sure PGE has your contact information so they can provide updates via text message)
- Online: Visit portlandgeneral.com/outage to see PGE's outage map
- PGE app: Download the PGE app (Google Play Store | Apple App Store). Links are available at portlandgeneral.com/app.
PGE also provides the following advice for people currently without power:
- Contact 211 for warming shelter information or other assistance.
- See if you can stay with a friend or family member who has power.
- Be careful lighting candles as an alternative light source.
- Don't operate kerosene heaters or generators indoors. Without proper ventilation, they can generate harmful gases and deadly carbon monoxide.
- Lock in the heat in your home by tacking blankets over windows and doorways to keep the cold out. Put rolled towels at the bottom of doors to keep drafts out.
- Stay at least 35 feet away from fallen power lines and anything they are touching. Always assume a power line is live and energized.
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