[But global warming...] Hundreds of thousands without power after Oregon ice storm

https://nypost.com/2021/02/14/hundreds-of-thousands-without-power-after-
oregon-ice-storm/

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — A winter storm blanketed the Pacific Northwest with 
ice and snow Saturday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without 
power and disrupting travel across the region. 

Freezing rain left roads, power lines and trees coated in ice in the 
Portland, Oregon, region, and by Saturday morning more than 270,000 people 
were without power. The extreme conditions, loss of power and 
transportation problems prompted Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to declare a state 
of emergency Saturday afternoon. 

“Crews are out in full force now and are coordinating with local emergency 
response teams on communications for emergency services, such as warming 
centers,” Brown said in a statement. “I’m committed to making state 
resources available to ensure crews have the resources they need on the 
ground.”

Winter storms and extreme cold affected much of the western U.S., 
particularly endangering homeless communities. Volunteers and shelter 
staffers were trying to ensure homeless residents in Casper, Wyoming, were 
indoors as the National Weather Service warned of wind chill reaching as 
much as 35 degrees below zero over the weekend. Authorities in western 
Washington and western Oregon opened warming shelters in an effort to 
protect homeless residents from the wet and cold.

The power outages in the Portland region could extend throughout the 
weekend for some, said Elizabeth Lattanner, a spokeswoman for PGE, one of 
the major electricity providers in the region.

“In storms like these, restoration takes time given all of the challenges 
our crews face in getting to restoration sites and repairing those 
outages,” Lattanner said. “We have more than 600 PGE and contract 
personnel responding to the storm — it’s all hands on deck.” 

Many ice-laden trees snapped under the weight, falling on power lines and 
causing transformers to blow out in showers of blue and orange sparks. By 
noon Saturday, more than 1,200 PGE power lines were down, Lattanner said. 

Brian Zevenbergen watched Saturday as a crew sawed up two large, ice-
covered trees that had crashed across his driveway overnight, narrowly 
missing two cars parked there. His house in Lake Owego had also lost power 
overnight. Just around the corner, another massive tree blocked the street 
in the suburb south of Portland and had taken out a city street light.

“Last night, everything was standing, and this morning the two trees had 
me blocked in the driveway and were blocking at least half the street,” he 
said. “Friends on the lower levels have power so I have invites to go hang 
out there.”

The ice and lost power didn’t stop children from rejoicing at a second 
straight day of sledding in a place that rarely sees sustained snowfall. 
Residents blocked streets with cones and shooed snowplows away so kids 
could sled down ice-slicked hills.

The ice and snowfall caused treacherous driving conditions, forcing Oregon 
transportation officials to close Interstate 84 in the Columbia River 
Gorge, and the regional transit agency TriMet suspended all bus and train 
service in the region. 

TriMet spokesperson Tia York asked people to avoid all travel unless it’s 
an emergency. “It is too dangerous out there,” York wrote in a statement. 

Police in Salem, Oregon, also warned residents in Marion and Polk counties 
to watch for downed power lines and falling tree limbs, and the Oregon 
State Police said fallen trees blocked several roads across the region.

Some Washington state residents were also socked in by the weather, with 
snow falling throughout the Seattle region on Saturday morning and 
freezing rain falling along the coast in Grays Harbor County. The city of 
Seattle activated its Emergency Operations Center Saturday morning to 
coordinate the city’s winter storm response. 

Heavy snowfall also led to dangerous driving conditions in parts of 
eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho, with Malheur County, Oregon, and 
Boise, Idaho, expected to get as much as 6 inches of snow by Saturday 
afternoon.

The National Weather Service said all three states should brace for 
another surge of winter moisture to hit the Northwest Sunday night, 
potentially leading to more heavy snowfall through Monday. The “unsettled 
winter conditions” would likely continue throughout the week, the National 
Weather Service said Saturday morning. 

Western Washington was expected to get an additional 3 to 6 inches of snow 
on Saturday, with another 2 inches possible on Sunday and Monday. Rain 
falling on accumulated snow raised the possibility of urban flooding 
happening Sunday night or Monday in some areas, according to the National 
Weather Service. 

The heavy snow made for dangerous avalanche conditions in the many areas 
across the Olympics and Cascades mountain ranges, with large avalanches 
possible. Officials with the Payette Avalanche Center in west-central 
Idaho also warned of increasing avalanche risk in the days ahead. 

Idaho’s neighbors to the east were blasted by brutally frigid weather, 
with the National Weather Service warning of dangerous wind chills in 
Montana and Wyoming. The wind chills were expected to reach as low as 50 
degrees below zero in Billings and near Missoula, Montana, and nearly as 
low across parts of Wyoming. 

Wind chills that low can cause frostbite on exposed skin in just a few 
minutes. The bitter cold was expected to last throughout the weekend.

The National Weather Service warned that the wind chill could be dangerous 
for pets and young livestock, at a time when calving season is beginning 
for many cattle ranchers. 

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center also warned of dangerous 
avalanche conditions in zones around Aspen, Steamboat and Flat Tops, Grand 
Mesa and Gunnison. Frigid temperatures with lows below zero were expected 
to last through Monday morning in Denver and across the Colorado plains, 
according to the National Weather Service.



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