Another in a series of windy, rainy storms moved into western Oregon on Thursday, bringing a new round of power outages and concerns over flooding.
The worst of the wind appeared to have been confined to the coast, with the National Weather Service advising that they did not expect wind speeds in other areas to match those of a storm earlier in the week, which knocked out power to more than 100,000 Oregonians. A wind advisory that had been in effect for most of Thursday was allowed to expire Thursday evening.
The rain, however, is inundating most of western Oregon. The National Weather Service has issued a "Flood warning" for much of the area until 11:45 p.m. Thursday.
"Flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations is imminent or occurring. Low-water crossings are inundated with water and may not be passable," the advisory said.
The agency said 1 to 4 inches of rain has fallen in the affected area, with another 1 to 4 inches possible overnight.
As of Thursday at 9:45 p.m., roughly 40,000 utility customers in Oregon lacked power, according to poweroutage.us, though some of the state's smaller utilities do not feed data to that site.
The worst hit area on Thursday evening was Lincoln County, where about 15,000 customers were in the dark. In Lane County, about 2,100 customers lacked power on Thursday evening.
"We are responding to widespread outages and damage caused by 60+ mph wind gusts and saturated soil from heavy rainfall, resulting in broken crossarms and poles, downed trees, and downed power lines," said a social media post from Central Lincoln Public Utility District.
The utility said it was receiving mutual aid assistance from other agencies in areas that weren't hit as hard, including Springfield Utility Board and Emerald People's Utility District.
Flooding also a possibility
Many parts of the coast and the Willamette Valley are also keeping a watchful eye on creeks and rivers. The National Weather Service said Thursday evening could be the worst time in terms of urban and small stream flooding, as a system is predicted to dump three inches or more of rain in many areas.
All of that runoff is expected to make its way into larger tributaries and rivers over the coming days. A flood watch is in effect for most areas though Saturday evening. Some communities are offering free sandbagging stations.
Of particular concern is the Siletz River in Lincoln County, which is predicted to crest just shy of major flood stage near the town of Siletz on Thursday evening. According to the National Weather Service, when floodwaters reach that level, it could require evacuations of several residential areas along the river.
Other flood concerns in the central and southern Willamette Valley include:
- Mohawk River near Springfield, which is expected to reach "minor flood stage" mid-morning Friday. At the projected peak, "expect flooding of low areas and some rural roads near the river," according to the National Weather Service.
- Thomas Creek near Scio, which is expected to reach just short of "major flood stage" in the early morning hours of Friday. At the projected peak, "expect widespread flooding of lower areas in and near Scio."
- Siuslaw River near Mapleton, which is expected to reach "minor flood stage" in the early morning hours of Friday. At the projected peak, "expect minor flooding of low lying dairy land along with some structures right along the banks of the Siuslaw River in and near Mapleton."
- Marys River near Philomath, which is expected to reach just shy of "major flood stage" in the early morning hours of Friday. At the projected peak, "expect widespread flooding in Philomath, especially on the south side in the vicinity of Chapel drive and Grange Hall Road, in central Benton County, and portions of Corvallis."
- Santiam River at Jefferson, which is expected to reach "minor flood stage" in the early morning hours of Friday. At the projected peak, "expect widespread lowland and agricultural flooding. Some secondary roads in low lying areas will be flooded at this level."
School and road closures
While a handful of districts canceled school due to weather issues on Thursday, it was a much smaller number than on Wednesday, when widespread power outages closed the doors of many schools in western Oregon. As of 9 p.m. Thursday, the only district with an announced delay for Friday is Lincoln County Schools, which said it will operate on a two-hour delay Friday, with any additional decisions being made by 7 a.m. Friday.
As of Thursday evening, there were no significant road closures in the southern Willamette Valley. Oregon Highway 34 is closed about 7 miles east of Alsea due to a landslide, according to ODOT. The severity of the landslide was not immediately clear Thursday evening.
Flooding was affecting some roads in the mid and northern parts of the valley, with a handful of closures along the coast. The status of many roads can be found at the Oregon Department of Transportation's website, TripCheck.com.
Officials urged drivers heading out on Thursday evening to watch for standing water and to avoid driving into areas where water covers the road.
