A powerful windstorm that struck the region starting Monday evening has left hundreds without power almost 24 hours later.
In the Banks region, 15 addresses were without power in Banks city limits, while 87 addresses north of the city were without power until the early afternoon before seeing power restored. About 30 homes in the Mountaindale and Pumpkin Ridge communities were without power, though others may be without power on West Oregon Electric Co-op lines, which abut the Mountaindale area, and are not reflected on the PGE outage map.
Seven addresses near Roy were also without power.
In Timber and Buxton and other areas near Banks on West Oregon lines, some homes could still be without power as well, West Oregon Electric said in a social media post made late Tuesday morning.
The co-op listed Timber, Buxton, Banks, Pumpkin Ridge, Sellers Road, the Hagg Lake area, areas near Hayward and more just after 10 a.m. as areas still experiencing an outage.
“WOEC crews along with mutual aid from our neighboring utilities are actively working to clear fallen trees, replace broken poles, and repair downed lines,” WOEC said. “These repairs take time. We appreciate your patience while our crews work safely to restore service.”
“We had multiple calls for power lines down,” said Banks Fire District Public Information Officer Mitch Ward in a message to the Banks Post.
“Fortunately, there were no injuries or damage to private property,” Ward said. “We do want to stress that if you do see power lines down, do not go near them. Call 911,” he added.
Banks Fire aided a neighboring emergency services agency on Highway 26 Monday night after downed trees and power lines blocked emergency crews from the coast from accessing the site of a motor vehicle crash, Banks Fire Public Information Officer Scott Adams told the Banks Post. Crews from Banks transported a trauma patient to a Portland hospital.
According to Portland General Electric, close to 100 addresses were without power in Gales Creek, while 43 Glenwood addresses were without power as well. Glenwood dealt with an earlier downed powerline on Feb. 22 as well.
A tree and power lines remained down on Parson Road just south of Highway 6.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
