More than 100,000 customers in Oregon still without power

(Update: Whiteout conditions shut I-84 in NE Oregon; I-5 closed south of Portland for emergency power line repairs)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — More than 100,000 customers remained without power Thursday in Oregon, a week after a massive snow and ice storm swept into the Pacific Northwest and brought the most dangerous conditions seen recently by utility workers.

Maria Pope, the CEO of Portland General Electric, said during a news conference Thursday that she expects power to be restored to more than 90% of the remaining customers who are still in the dark by the end of Friday.

Pope says many of the places without power are in more remote areas or have extensive damage.

As for when the remaining customers in the dark will receive power again, Pope says that the timeline is still being determined, but updated information can be found on Portland General Electric’s website.

And travel woes from stormy weather continued as well. ODOT reported a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 84 was closed between Pendleton and La Grande in northeast Oregon on Thursday due to whiteout conditions and semi-trucks blocking lanes.

ODOT also was closing Interstate 5 late Thursday night near Canby to for overnight repairs to damaged transmission lines over the highway, detouring traffic onto state Highway 99E.

Read more at: https://apnews.com/article/portland-ice-storms-storms-coronavirus-pandemic-oregon-ab8eb184add7be98efd99f69601b01c0