07:56 AM PST on Friday, December 5, 2003

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, and TERESA BELL, kgw.com Staff

Residents cleaning up after Thursday's powerful wind storm may be slammed by more high winds Friday evening.

An even stronger wind storm is expected to hit Oregon and Washington Friday night, KGW Meteorologist Dave Salesky said, but winds will gust late in the day and will mainly hit the north Oregon coast and and Western Washington.

Krista Brady was slapped by the winds as she walked along Cannon Beach, but she wanted to watch the storm. (KGW Photo)

Salesky said the biggest storm damage will likely occur along the Oregon Coast as a battering storm generates high winds and rain, Salesky said. He said winds will gust strongest just north of Astoria, Oregon, along Oceanside, before moving towards the Puget Sound.

The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for the south central coast, as well as a high wind watch for the central coast range through Saturday morning.

"This storm will bring gusts to 80 mph from the south to the Coast late Friday night and potentially damaging winds again to the Portland area," added KGW Chief Meteorologist Matt Zafino.

Stormwatchers were already showing up along the Coast late Thursday night and early Friday. Some watched as high winds sent waves of sand across Cannon Beach while business owners prepared to board up windows and doors as a precaution.

Thursday's high winds knocked down this Honeybucket porta-potty in Camas. (kgw.com photo by Tracy Weithas)

Thursday's high winds caused widespread damage

Fierce winds toppled trees Thursday, knocking out power to thousands of homes in Portland and Vancouver.

"Strong, gusting easterly winds are blowing across the region," said KGW meteorologist Dave Salesky. The National Weather Service issued a wind warning for the Pacific Northwest.

A downed power line in the Mt. Tabor area. (KGW photo)

By early Friday morning, PGE had restored power to all but 100 customers who were mostly located in Welches, Sandy and Estacada. In Clark County, Washington, just a few scattered outages remained Friday morning, according to officials with the Clark County Public Utility District.

Wind-related danger, damage

Winds also created life-threatening situations. A Clark County road worker was struck by a falling tree at Alderbrook Park near Hockinson, Washington, said Chris Carlson, safety coordinator for Clark County Public Works. The man was conscious when he was transported to Southwest Washington Medical Center. The extent of his injuries was not known.

Crews work to clear a large tree from the roadway after it fell on cars at 28th Avenue and SE Oak Street in Portland. (KGW photo)

One large tree fell in front of a house at 18821 S. Mattoon Road in Oregon City, smashing all three of the family's cars parked in front.

Kathy Johnson, who was sleeping inside the house, woke up to a loud crash at 3:30 a.m.

“It sounded like a bomb went off…you could hear the glass and stuff on the cars breaking,” she said.

Johnson wasn’t immediately sure what happened, but she soon realized that a huge tree had fallen on the family’s three cars. She said the tree also caused a portion of the covered back deck to collapse.

“It just laid over the top of my car and all over my daughter’s,” she said. “It hit my husbands’ car too, but it wasn’t totaled like the other two.”

Johnson said an insurance representative is scheduled to come to the house Friday to assess damages. In addition to smashing the cars, the downed tree also knocked out the water line and phone line.

However, Johnson is thankful it didn’t hurt her daughter, Melissa, who was sleeping dangerously close to the back deck that was hit.

“I’m sad, but also very thankful that no one was hurt other than property…if it would’ve been ten feet more, it would’ve killed her,” she said.

Downed trees caved in the roof of this structure near Hockinson, Washington. (Sky 8 photo)

A family in Vancouver was evacuated from their home after a tree fell on the house in the 10000 block of NE 90th Avenue. Emergency crews determined that a second, unstable tree also posed a threat. The Red Cross is providing the family with lodging, said Jim Flaherty, spokesman and fireman with the Vancouver Fire Department.

At least one tree slammed down in the Mt. Tabor area around 3 a.m.

“The wind was whipping and I heard this crack,” said Mount Tabor resident David Shapiro. “The tree just fell.”

In Portland’s North Park Blocks, a huge elm tree came crashing down on a Saab and smashed into a business.

“Glass just went like an action movie, just all over me," said Aimee Binford, who was at the scene.

There were reports of downed trees throughout the Portland and Vancouver metro areas. Some kgw.com readers described trees snapping like twigs.

"We lost half of a 75-foot Sequoia this morning when the wind snapped it in half. Thankfully it did not land on our house or the neighbors," Vancouver residents Mary and Gary Elliott wrote in an email to KGW.

"About 40 feet of the tree landed in their backyard and took out another small tree, but there was no damage to life or property. The remaining 30-foot 'stump is still standing...we were all incredibly lucky! I would never in a million years have guessed that tree would snap like that," the email reads.

A massive tree crushed this car in Portland's Park Blocks near Portland State University during Thursday's wind storm. (KGW photo)

Powerful winds tore down a barn that had stood at the intersection of NE 83rd St. and 217th Ave. east of Vancouver for more than 60 years, Jean N. Mattson wrote in email. Mattson said the barn was a well known landmark built by her parents.

Late Thursday morning Gresham eastside MAX service was restored after being disrupted for several hours. A crossing gate at Gresham Central Station was blown into overhead wires by high winds.

PGE is reminding the public not to approach or touch a downed power line.

To report downed lines, call PGE at (503) 464-7777 in the Portland area and 1-800-544-1795 outside Portland.

Thousands of homes were without power

Crews in Oregon and Washington were working to restore all power as soon as possible in the remaining power-outage locations.

The bulk of PGE customers without power were in the community of Welches near Mt. Hood. The rest of the outages were scattered. PGE crews were planning to work through the night to restore service to customers, company officials said.

A 30-foot 'stump' is left of a 75-foot Sequoia that snapped outside Mary and Gary Elliott's Vancouver home. (Photo courtesy of Mary Elliott)

During the peak of the power outage, more than 15,000 PGE customers were without power.

Weather Service issues High Wind Warning

The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning for the Portland metro area, the greater Vancouver area and the southern Washington Cascade foothills Thursday.

Those locations could experience easterly winds up to 35 m.p.h. with gusts of 60 m.p.h. Winds at higher elevations in eastern Clark County may gust up to 70 m.p.h.

related stories
		High wind warning for PDX, coast
		Check traffic conditions
		Latest school closures

Thursday morning wind gusts in the Portland area reached 41 m.p.h., Salesky said.

In addition to wind-swept streets, Portland got rain-slicked streets Thursday afternoon. Rainfall will increase Thursday evening, Salesky predicted.

Snow levels in the mountains will climb to 8,000 feet Thursday before dropping overnight, he said.

(KGW reporter Jack Penning contributed to this report.)