PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As the region braces for snow, sleet and freezing rain, people near the Gorge are getting prepared.
Ron Dutton lives out near the Columbia River in Fairview and drives for a living. He says he knows better than to mess with ice, as he is no stranger to the intense ice and whipping winds that batter the east side of Multnomah County.
“I’m staying away from the ice,” Dutton said. “We’re getting out today getting our grocery shopping done, then it’s home, I’m going to hunker down — and that’s it, I’m not going anywhere.”
Once Dutton saw freezing rain in the forecast, he said knew he needed to get all his errands done in advance.
“You should take it very seriously because it doesn’t matter if it’s a half-inch, a quarter-inch, a trace of ice — you can’t drive on it. There’s no control,” he warned. “Don’t chance it, don’t risk it, don’t risk other people’s lives. Just stay home.”
It’s important to remember how tens of thousands of people lost power for days — and some for weeks — in the region’s last major ice storm back in February 2021.
If you’re realizing you don’t have what you need ahead of the holiday weekend, there’s still time before it gets particularly treacherous on Thursday and Friday.
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