High winds, thunderstorms knock out power for thousands in Oregon, Southwest Washington

Ten of thousands of homes were without power Tuesday morning after a powerful storm system made its way across Southwest Washington and most of Oregon overnight.

Portland General Electric reported nearly 14,000 customers without power in the metro area as of 10 a.m. Tuesday.

“High winds and heavy rain toppled trees, brought down limbs on powerlines and caused widespread outages across PGE’s service area,” PGE spokesperson John Farmer said Tuesday morning. “Crews have been working to restore service since the storm began yesterday afternoon and have already restored power to approximately 91,000 customers.”

Farmer said there were about 72,000 PGE outages at the peak of the storm Monday night. Some customers may continue to be without power until Wednesday evening, he said.

Thousands of Pacific Power customers also lost power, with about 3,700 outages remaining Tuesday morning.

Traffic and fire officials reported multiple trees and power lines down across the area. Crews noted several spots Tuesday morning where tree limbs were blocking Highway 26 between the coast and the Portland metro area,

Just after 9 a.m. Tuesday, Multnomah County announced closures on Northwest Thompson Road and Northwest Old Germantown Road, due to downed trees and power lines. The roads were reopened Tuesday afternoon.

Flooding in southeast Oregon

On top of Monday’s high winds, heavy rains continued, causing some areas to see landslides and flooded roadways.

Highway 20 in southeast Oregon was closed for flooding from the nearby Malheur River.

Oregon Department of Transportation crews reported three to five feet of water on the road in Malheur County.

According to the National Weather Service, recent rains and rapid snow melt at lower elevations were causing the flooding. A flood warning is in effect until 11 p.m. Tuesday.

ODOT said Highway 20 will stay closed overnight and crews will reassess the situation Wednesday morning.

The department is cautioning drivers that other roads in the area may be flooded and not to drive through water.

Power outages, road conditions affect schools

A handful of schools in northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington announced delayed openings Tuesday morning due to outages and road conditions. Find a full list of delays and closures here.

Utility companies are reminding people who come across downed power lines to stay away.

The National Weather Service said rain and strong winds are expected to subside by Tuesday afternoon as the storm system moves away from the area.