How people are managing without power

By OPB staff
Feb. 16, 2021 9:07 p.m.
A downed tree in the Alameda neighborhood of Portland on Monday played havoc with electrical wires on the street, likely knocking out power to some homes.

A downed tree in the Alameda neighborhood of Portland on Monday played havoc with electrical wires on the street, likely knocking out power to some homes.

Jeff Mapes / OPB

More than 200,000 customers in the Willamette Valley were trying to cope with a lack of power on Tuesday morning. We put a call out on Twitter to hear their stories and received dozens of reports. One common theme: Lots of food in freezers that had gone bad.

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The added wrinkle to this blackout is of course the pandemic. The generators that kept people working at their offices during outages are of no use to them in their dark homes. Some people are working at friends’ homes or even in their cars.

A safety note: Some people have been talking about alternate ways to keep warm with the power out. Just be wary of possible carbon monoxide poisoning.

And finally, a big thanks to all the people who contributed to the Twitter thread. Here’s a collection of some of the replies:




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