Storms leave thousands in Southern Oregon without power

Nick Morgan, Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.
·2 min read

Dec. 27—More than 6,000 people in Southern Oregon and far Northern California were still without power early Tuesday afternoon in the wake of a series of storms that at one point left nearly 50,000 customers in the dark across the state.

Pacific Power estimated 27,000 customers were out of power across Oregon and portions of Northern California as of noon Tuesday, including 5,400 customers in the Grants Pass area and 1,300 customers in Yreka, California, according to a news advisory issued by Pacific Power.

The number was down significantly from the 49,622 customers impacted at the height of the outages overnight Monday and through Tuesday, but heavy rains and high-speed winds continue to hamper the added resources called out to assess and repair the damaged lines.

The power company deployed more than 250 field and support personnel, including service crews called out from Rocky Mountain Power. Wind speeds — particularly west of the Cascades — ranged between 40 and 80 mph, according to the advisory.

Oregon Department of Transportation warned motorists in southwest Oregon to watch for downed trees, branches, power lines and other road hazards because winds and heavy rains will continue from the coast to the cascades, according to the agency's official Twitter account.

Rural Metro Fire in Josephine County said at 1 p.m. Tuesday that several locations across the county were still in various stages of cleanup and/or repair.

From just a little after 11 p.m. Monday through about 7 a.m Tuesday, Rural Metro Fire crews were alerted to more than a dozen storm-related issues, mostly trees and power lines blocking roads. Two reports involved vehicles hitting downed trees in the dark. No serious crash or electrocution injuries were reported, Rural Metro stated in a Facebook post.

Elsewhere in the state, the Astoria DMV office was closed Tuesday "due to a citywide power outage," and an outage at ODOT's headquarters impacted the agency's Commerce and Compliance Division Tuesday.

Callers to our CCD Registration Services line can expect longer hold times because of a power outage in HQ. Carriers can continue to use Oregon Trucking Online (TOL) for most transactions with CCD. https://t.co/b629Mm2Heq

— OregonDOT (@OregonDOT) December 27, 2022

The Willamette Valley, Portland metro area and portions of the Oregon Coast could see "strong, possibly damaging" weather well into the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service in Portland.

In Yreka, California, the Siskiyou County Office of Emergency Services reported Tuesday afternoon that Yreka Walker Bridge near Humbug Creek had been washed out. The public works department and road crews were working to get the area cleared, but motorists were warned to stay away from the area.

Also in Siskiyou County, State Route 96, the Klamath River Highway, was reported closed approximately 2 miles east of Horse Creek to Doggett Creek Bridge due to flooding. No detours were available, so motorists were advised to stay off the highway.