Residents recover from intense storm

By KATU Staff Published: Jun 5, 2009 at 6:15 AM PST Last Updated: Jun 5, 2009 at 12:14 PM PST
Residents recover from intense storm »Play Video
A tree toppled onto a house used as an office near the intersection of Southwest Main Street and Southwest King Avenue near Washington Park in Portland.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Crews were still working Friday morning to restore power to thousands of customers following a violent thunderstorm that blew through Western Oregon a day earlier, knocking down trees and branches onto homes and cars and sending debris flying through the air.

PGE said it still had 6,700 customers without power as of 5 a.m. - down from about 50,000 who lost power during the storm's peak about 6 p.m. Thursday. That included thousands in Salem and Marion County as well as in Washington County. There were fewer than 1,000 customers without power in Portland, PGE said.

In Cowlitz County, crews restored power to all customers by about 7:15 p.m. after some 5,300 lost it Thursday night.

A large oak tree snapped and fell into Michele Docy's Hillsboro home last night. No one was inside at the time, but the cost of repairing part of the attic and a bedroom and other damage will be well over $100,000.

"My parents were coming for a visit from Ohio (Friday) so ... which is perfect timing," she said, laughing. 

The storm moved from the southern Willamette Valley toward the Portland area in the afternoon, flooding streets and knocking down trees and power lines. Tornado warnings were issued during the day and there were unconfirmed reports of funnel clouds in the mid-valley.

The high winds blew around so much pollen, dust and other particles that hospitals saw an increase in patients complaining of having trouble breathing. More than 100 people with those issues flooded into Providence St. Vincent Medical Center's emergency room between 5 p.m. and midnight, the hospital said.

The heavy rain that accompanied the storm caused Portland's combined sewers to overflow and prompted officials to warn the public to avoid any recreational activity on the Willamette River for 48 hours.

The weather forced some high schools to reschedule graduation. Students in the Woodburn School District will now graduate Friday night at 5:30 p.m. while students in the Green Mountain School District in Clark County will graduate at 7 p.m. Friday.