Power outages continue to impact residents in the Philomath vicinity and in some cases, customers have been told that it could be Sunday before electricity can be restored to their homes and businesses.
“We’ve had snow, we’ve had ice, we’ve had wind but we’ve never had anything this icy,” said Ryan Cheeke, a farmer who lives south of town. “I’m having to slide cattle with tractor buckets to get them up off the ice. I’ve never seen it this icy.”
One of Cheeke’s neighbors down the road on Wonderly Lane said it’s been quite a few years since she last experienced an extended power outage.
“I remember one other time, it was years ago, that it was gone for a couple or three or four days — it’s been years so I can’t even remember how long,” Candice Hlavinka said. “I think it was an ice storm-type thing at that point, too. I’m sure it’s been over 10 years ago.”
Cheeke was out and about dealing with issues, including those cattle he mentioned.
“Just between Wonderly Lane and my barn on Airport (Avenue), there’s probably a dozen trees across the road in a mile and a half,” Cheeke said. “Just off Airport road … I’ve seen power lines in four places just broken without any trees hitting them, so besides the trees taking stuff down, the ice is just breaking power lines as well.”
Consumers Power Inc.’s online reporting tool as of 1:45 p.m. was reporting that outages were affecting more than 1,000 customers just in the Philomath area.
Hlavinka, who is one of those CPI customers, said her property first lost power Tuesday for about five hours. After it had been restored, electricity went out again Wednesday between 4:30 and 5 a.m.
“They keep on saying there’s a ton of trees down up on the corner of Airport and Bellfountain, which is directly, I guess, where our power comes from,” Hlavinka said, who has stayed in contact with neighbors that also lost power. “Two different people I know have called in and they keep telling them to not expect it (power) until Sunday.”
Indeed, the company on its website states, “While CPI expects to make significant progress in the coming days, given the extent of the damage and the difficult working conditions, we are asking all members to be prepared for the possibility to be without power until Sunday.”
Both Hlavinka and Cheeke are using generators and have wood stoves to use for heat, so they are among those who are probably prepared to make their way through an extended outage.
“Unfortunately, when it goes out, we don’t have water,” Hlavinka said, a situation that mostly impacts what’s provided to animals and things like flushing toilets. “We really should have saved a whole bunch — we have done that in the past like putting it in barrels and stuff but we didn’t this time.”
CPI reported at 12:30 p.m. that it had 13 line crews in the field working to restore power while continuing to assess damages. Until that information could be collected, the company said it had no definitive estimates on restoration times.
“As a safety reminder, please stay away from down power lines and do not attempt to clear branches or trees from power lines,” CPI said.
As of 1:45 p.m., Pacific Power was reporting 85 customers in the Philomath vicinity affected by outages. The company said snow and ice accumulation along with fallen trees had damaged power equipment to disrupt response activities.
“With temperatures warming and the continued efforts of our teams showing results, we’re working continuously to have power back on as soon as possible,” Erik Brookhouse, vice president of system operations, said in a news release.
Pacific Power anticipated most customers having service restored by the evening.
“There’s so many places that are out, you know, they just can’t be everywhere at once,” Hlavinka said. “So you’ve got to wait your turn, I guess.”
