Wind, rainstorms knock out power, down trees, slow traffic

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A wind and rainstorm has caused havoc Sunday, cutting off power to at least 114,000 people due to downed power lines.

More rain and wind overnight in to Monday knocked down more trees and caused school closures, traffic delays and property damage. Power was still out to about 28,000 people throughout the Portland/Vancouver area.

Traffic was also stacking up around the region Monday morning as crews worked to clear roads and signals remained out in some spots. Additionally, a seminar at the Portland Convention Center that started early in the morning Monday added more traffic to I-5 and surrounding roadways.

There were 35 reports of wires down in Clackamas County alone on Sunday. The reports of wires down started coming in at about 3:40 p.m. as the storm moved up from the Willamette Valley.

As of 6 p.m., PGE had 49,000 customers without power across its service territory due to storm-related outages involving downed trees and power lines.

The hardest hit areas were east of Portland, however there were more scattered outages across the area from Portland to Salem and out toward Mount Hood.

PGE crews restored power as quickly and safely as possible. PGE officials warned people to stay away from downed lines and to call PGE at (503)-464-7777 to report downed lines and outages.

Officials from Pacific Power estimated that 74,000 of its customers were without power at the peak of the outages.

About 3,000 Clark Public Utilities customers were without power as of 6:30 p.m. The outages were scattered throughout Clark County, but the largest percentage were in the Hockinson area due to trees down or limbs on lines.

Utility crews continue to restore power to the impacted customers. Customers can report outages and listen to updates by calling the utility's PowerLine, (360)-992-8000.

There have also been a series of small fires caused by the wires being blown down. There are also scattered reports of trees falling into houses. Trees are also blocking a number of side streets.

According to officials from the Oregon Department of Transportation, strong winds and downed trees caused problems on some state highways in the Willamette Valley.

Highway 214 was closed between Woodburn and Mount Angel after trees downed powerlines. Also, Highway 551 near Hubbard was closed because of downed powerlines. ODOT officials warn motorists need to be careful because of flying debris, downed trees and limbs. Traveling delays are expected due to the weather and events at the Portland Convention Center.

In Multnomah County, several roads in rural east Multnomah County were closed due to wind-blown trees that have knocked down power lines.

KATU will update this story as needed.