C.O.’s stormy aftermath: Airborne shed took out 10 Madras power poles and lines; teepee shredded, portable toilet tossed
(Update: Cause of downed power poles; other damage in area)
MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) – U.S. Highway 26 reopened just north of Madras Wednesday morning, but ODOT advised drivers to still expect slow traffic after an outdoor carport tossed airborne in high winds blew across a street and took out 10 Pacific Power poles Tuesday night.
ODOT said on its TripCheck map around 8 a.m. that drivers should expect delays under 20 minutes near milepost 116, a mile north of Madras.
"Please slow down and pay attention, as crews will still be working in the area," ODOT advised.
Pacific Power spokesman Simon Gutierrez said "a garage or shed became airborne and blew across Cherry Lane, taking out 10 of our poles."
Pacific Power said on its outage map that high winds had caused the outage still affecting 162 customers in the area Wednesday morning, but repair crews had all but 24 back in service by the afternoon; the rest were due to have power back by 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Lexi Peterson said the strong winds tore apart her mom's hand-painted teepee, which she called her "she-pee," off the Old Bend-Redmond Highway.
"She has really cool artifacts in there with the Native American culture from her father," Peterson said.
Terrebonne resident Michael Stailing, meanwhile, was on his way to work when he snapped a photo of a portable toilet tossed into the street.
As the storm moved through, a weather station in Morrow County reported winds gusting to 58 mph late Tuesday night. Winds were still gusting past 30 mph at the Bend Airport Wednesday morning.
Several power outages occurred around Oregon as the strong storm moved inland Tuesday night. Madras Airport reported winds gusting past 40 mph much of the night and past 50 mph at one point.
Central Oregon began seeing the impacts Tuesday evening of the major storm sweeping into the West Coast, with winds gusting past 50 mph in places as rain, snow or a mix continued to fall.
Madras Airport reported a wind gust to 52 mph around 6:30 p.m., while Redmond Airport had a 44 mph gust just before 8 p.m. and Bend Airport a 38 mph gust around 3:15 p.m.
A high wind warning is in effect across much of Central Oregon until 10 a.m. Wednesday for south to southeast winds 30-40 mph and possible gusts up to 60 mph. Forecasters warned damaging winds could topple trees and power lines and make for challenging travel, especially for high-profile vehicles.
Meanwhile, a winter weather advisory is in place until 10 a.m. Wednesday for the east slopes of the Cascades above 3,500 feet. Two to eight inches of snow are expected, possibly 10 inches at higher elevations, along with those winds gusting up to 60 mph.
Early signs of damage or outages late Tuesday were minimal. A tree branch fell onto a power line feeding a transformer for a single residence in Madras around 8 p.m., Police Chief Timothy Plummer said. More residents saw probably a "three-second flicker" earlier in the evening.
