Sturm threatens power failures, fallen trees in Metro Portland

Portland, Ore. – A strong storm moves to the northwest of Pacific on Monday evening and brings the potential for power outages and depressed trees. In the northeast of Vancouver, the heavy rains have already created at least one neighborhood over the weekend.

Jeremy Girod, a resident of Vancouver, was at work on Monday morning when his wife called: “It was probably 11:30 a.m. Home and worked from home and worked from home and worked and worked from home and worked from home and worked about one and a half miles: “Hey, a tree Almost hit her country cruiser, “said Girod.” I thought oh boy! “

The tree that fell into the northeast 71st of Street has already been weakened by the recent strong precipitation.

“It was wind. So there was a lot of satiety,” said Girod. “In the 71st street down and lots of water, collect here on this tree root. I think it has just started to rotten – violent wind, and then it goes there.”

His home monitoring camera caught the moment when the tree came down.

“As you see, it is very close,” said Girod, showing the video while pointing to his country cruiser, who had been parked on the street.

With the gusts of wind, which are expected to reach 50 miles per hour in the Willamette Valley and up to 70 miles per hour along the coast of Oregon, the power supply companies are aimed at failures. Portland General Electric (PGE) said the crews were on willingness to react quickly.

“We are planning and preparing for weather events all year round, as we see it today,” said PGE spokesman John Farmer. “This enables our company team to understand what to expect and then to carry out the operational preparations such as prior positioning materials or various crews in the standby company in various areas.”

According to Farmer, one of the greatest risks in such storms are trees falling.

“Vegetation is one of the biggest causes of power failures, especially with strong winds,” he said. “What you see is pretty simple – the mother of nature makes her thing. She comes in, she blows the wind around and either the branches or trees come on the power lines and cause failures.”

The strong wind warning for the Oregon coast remains in force until Monday evening, whereby the strongest gusts are expected in the evening. Wind counseling for the Willamette Valley and Southwest Washington should start at noon.

• Stay at least 50 feet from a filled power line removed and assume that it is live. Call 911 and PGE immediately.
• Do you have a failure plan, regardless of whether it stays at home, to stay at home with supplies or go to the house of a friend.
• Keep an emergency kit with food, water, blankets, flashlights and all necessary medication.
• Make sure that your contact information with your power provider is up to date.