PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Portland General Electric, Pacific Power and Tillamook People’s Utility District announced that power outages on Monday night have left thousands of customers in the dark amid high wind and heavy rain in the Pacific Northwest.
Just after 11 p.m., Portland General Electric reported 4,920 customers were affected by outages, 4,207 of which were in Washington County. PGE also reported 237 customers were affected in Clackamas County followed by 269 customers in Multnomah County and 136 in Yamhill County.
Pacific Power reported just after 9 p.m. Monday that 3,802 customers were impacted by outages. Additionally, Tillamook People’s Utility District, reported 1,734 customers were without power just after 10 p.m.
Starting Monday evening, several weather watches and warnings have been issued for a storm system that is expected to bring a lot of rain and some pretty significant wind to Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington through Tuesday.
A Wind Advisory has been issued for a majority of the Willamette Valley from 2 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The Oregon Coast is expected to experience heavy rain and wind on Monday lasting into Tuesday. A High Wind Warning and Coastal Flood Watch have both been issued for most areas along the coast through Tuesday evening.
The storm comes after the region was blanketed with frigid temperatures, snow and ice last week.
“In some ways, we had not completely stood down from the previous storm,” said Tom Gauntt, a spokesperson with Pacific Power.
Pacific Power says they still have crews in place in parts of the north coast like Astoria and Lincoln City after responding to last week’s storm. In case of outages, Pacific Power is encouraging customers to stock up on water, batteries and blankets until the power is back on.
If you spot a downed power line, first call 911, then report it to the local power company, along with any outages. Pacific Power can be reached at 1-877-508-5088.