Storm smacks Gorge

“It’s a mess,” said Cascade Locks City Administrator Gordon Zimmerman after the storm, which initially knocked out power for the 25-mile region between Bridal Veil and Wyeth. The entire City of Cascade Locks lost power until Wednesday morning.

About 80 city customers were still out of power as of Thursday. The city worked with Clark County Public Utility District to repair electric mainlines, and city crews scrambled to clear trees and restore power to local homes.

“Some homes had trees come down across lines that ripped the electric meter off of their homes. Those homeowners will need to find an electrician to reinstall the meter base before city crews will be able to restore power to that home,” Zimmerman said.

The city expects the total bill for repairs will be about $50,000.

Transportation in the region was hit sorely by the storm. Oregon Department of Transportation closed off the eastbound lanes from Troutdale at around 9 p.m. Tuesday due to about 20 trees which had fallen on the roadway, as well as countless branches.

“We found a lot of trees and a lot of debris. We have people all over the place,” said ODOT public information officer Don Hamilton during the recovery efforts.

Crews with shovels, plows and heavy machinery pushed branches and fallen trees (which numbered about two dozen on the highway) to the sides of the road. Some of the stubborn logs required chainsaw crews.

Drivers were diverted to either U.S. 26 (which was briefly closed) or across the river to Washington State Route 14.

The diversion point at Exit 17 was chosen, Hamilton said, because it offers more room for trucks to maneuver as well as more hotel lodging opportunities than most exits between Troutdale and Cascade Locks. Some travelers were stuck for the night in Troutdale, according to Facebook comments on the Hood River News page.

Winds gusted at an estimated 70 mph in what Hamilton called a “nasty storm.” In parts of southwest Washington, winds pushed 90 mph, according to the National Weather Service station in Pendleton. There were at least three fatal crashes in the Northwest during the storm, the Associated Press reported.

A tree fell on an 80-year-old Sandy woman’s home, trapping her inside for the night until emergency crews rescued her, the Oregonian reported.

In the Gorge, one tree struck an ODOT vehicle Tuesday night, but the driver wasn’t injured. The incident did, however, prompt the agency to pause its road work until daylight hours for safety purposes, Hamilton said.

Flooding also reared as a potential threat, but ODOT crews quashed it. A culvert at Tumult Creek along the highway filled with a thick wad of leaves and branches, but workers unclogged the debris before storm water could swamp the road.

Multiple highway signs were pulverized by the wind and downed trees, including the green Warrenton marker and the brown Multnomah Falls sign. Luckily regarding the latter sign, Hamilton said it was scheduled to be replaced anyway.