Gusty winds buffet C.O.; downed tree cuts power to 1,000 south of Prineville

(Update: Power restored)

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Winds gusting to nearly 40 mph toppled a tree into a power line south of Prineville on Sunday afternoon, knocking out power to about 1,000 Central Electric Cooperative members for several hours.

The outage in the Juniper Heights area began around 1 p.m., and nearly three hours later, a CEC representative said it could take another 3-4 hours to restore power, as crews remove the tree and repair the downed lines.

"More crew members (are) en route due to the size of the job," said Brent Ten Pas, the co-op's director of member and public relations.

The outage ended and power was restored by Sunday evening.

Follow the latest updates at CEC's website or on their Facebook page.

Another power line was reported down and sparking on Tweed Road in the Tumalo area later in the afternoon. Winds gusted to 36 mph at Bend Airport on Sunday afternoon.