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Ice Storm Causes Hundreds Of Downed Trees, Thousands Without Power

Following last week's snow and freezing rain Saturday, utility companies have been dealing with power outages throughout the South Willamette Valley.

According to the Eugene Water and Electric Board, thousands of customers are without power particularly in the South hills, the Laurel Hill Valley, and a portion of southwest Eugene. EWEB Spokesman Joe Harwood says crews have been working through night.

Harwood: "It's one of those things where we take two steps forward and three steps back."

Harwood says multiple crews worked until around 3 AM trying to restore power.

Harwood: "And this morning, we have all the remaining crews that went home for about four or five hours of sleep came in at 6 and immediately deployed. So we have all hands on deck. We tried to get some mutual aid from other utilities, but there's really no one available in Oregon because everyone has the same trouble that we are."

The Emerald People's Utility District has been dealing with outages since early Saturday morning. More than 10 thousand residents in Springfield, Cottage Groove, Dexter, Creswell, and Veneta were without power Saturday. EPUD has not restored power to all areas yet. Pacific Power crews in the mid-Willamette Valley had more than 7,000 customers are without power. Every utility says the biggest problem is battling terrible road conditions to fix the outages.

copyright, 2014 KLCC