A windstorm swept through the region overnight, knocking out power for thousands, littering roadways with debris, and closing area schools.
In Forest Grove, hundreds were without power as the city's municipal Forest Grove Light & Power worked to restore electricity. By around 4:30 a.m., the utility company said about 95% of their customers had power again.
"All crews are active, fully staffed, and working as safely and quickly as conditions allow," said the utility, which serves customers inside city limits and a handful of customers in the Hillside and Kansas City communities.
More than 80,000 Portland General Electric (PGE) customers across the region were still without power as of late Wednesday morning. View the company's outage map online.
In Gales Creek and Dilley, the loss of power and road closures meant that Gales Creek's Oak Grove Academy and the Dilley Elementary School were closed for the day.
"Due to the severe weather during the night, our building is without power," the district said of the Dilley Elementary School. "As a result, we have made the decision to close school for today," the district added.
Area residents reported that roads had been cleared enough to travel on by Wednesday morning.
As of 10:45 a.m., nearly 300 addresses in and near the Gales Creek area in the 97117 and 97116 zip codes were without electricity. PGE said power could be restored by Thursday at 11:45 p.m.
Buses servicing routes 24 and 25, which transport students in Gales Creek and on Timber Road could not reach students Wednesday morning, the district said.
In Banks, schools were open, but many bus routes were on snow routes due to downed trees. View them here.
PGE said 360 customers in Banks' 97106 zip code, which includes portions of Manning, Buxton, Hayward, and Mountaindale, were without power as of 11:45 a.m. with an estimated restoration time of 11:45 p.m. on Thursday.
More than 100 PGE customers in the Mountaindale community in the 97133 zip code were without power, with the same estimated restoration time, while 111 Buxton-area residents were without power, along with 43 Buxton and Manning residents in the 97125 zip code.
Gaston and areas near Hagg Lake and the Seghers community were without power as well.
The utility company set the same restoration estimate for all of these outages.
Numerous West Oregon Electric Co-op customers also reported outages.
The co-op serves customers in rural areas across northwestern Oregon, including in Timber, the Hagg Lake area, and Hayward.
According to the co-op's outage map, 83 Hayward area customers were without power, while around 200 customers in Timber and the Strassel and Scofield Road areas were without power.
More than 300 West Oregon customers north of Manning were without power as well.
In the Hagg Lake area, about 150 West Oregon customers were without electricity.
"Following last night’s windstorm, our crews are working system-wide to restore power," West Oregon said Wednesday morning. "They worked through the night and are continuing restoration efforts this morning," the Vernonia-based co-op said.
"There are multiple scattered outages across our service territory. Due to fallen trees, debris, and downed lines, restoration will take time. We appreciate your patience as crews work safely to assess the damage and restore power. We do not have an ETA for restoration for any outages at this time."
The Oregon Department of Transportation urged motorists to be cautious due to downed trees and work crews on state highways.
"Strong winds that began overnight are causing widespread impacts on roads across Oregon, including downed trees, fallen limbs and downed power lines. Conditions are expected to continue and may change or worsen as high winds persist throughout the day," the state agency said.
Visit wc-roads.com for county emergency road closures and tripcheck.com for road closures on state highways.
