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.
As of Thursday at 10:45 p.m., roughly 33,000 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
Rain is inundating most of western Oregon, with the precipitation being measured by the inch in many places.
Many parts of the coast and the Willamette Valley are keeping a watchful eye on creeks and rivers. The National Weather Service said Thursday night into Friday morning could bring some flooding.
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.
Some 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 10 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. [NOTE: The Lincoln County School District announced Friday morning that all schools in the district would remain closed on Friday "due to ongoing hazards" from this week's storms.]
As of Thursday evening, there were no significant road closures in the southern Willamette Valley, but some lane closures were in effect due to high water, including along U.S. 20 in North Albany.
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.
