Parts Of Central Oregon Still Lack Power

Utility crews worked Monday to restore service to several hundred central Oregon residents who were still without power nearly two days after a powerful windstorm blew through the area.

Winds clocked at up to 85 mph hit the area Saturday evening and in the early hours of Sunday.

Damage was reported from the Klamath Falls area north to La Pine.

As many as 4,000 homes lost electricity as hundreds of trees crashed down on power lines.

No injuries were reported, but damage to homes was widespread.

One forecaster said the winds were a surprise.

“It wasn’t expected at all,” said meteorologist intern David Spector of Klamath Falls. “We had forecasted light winds.”

Crystal Wood Lodge, near Rocky Point on Upper Klamath Lake, lost its roof and sustained major damage to two of its seven guest rooms when a 150- to 200-foot Ponderosa pine fell, said owner Rich McIntrye.

None of the four guests in the lodge was staying in the damaged rooms.

The lodge also lost electricity and its phone service, he said.

Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Chris Kaber, who lives in Rocky Point, said a half dozen homes in the area received minor damage when trees fell on them. Power in the area was out for more than 12 hours.

“(The wind) was really humming out here,” Kaber said.

“Most of the trees that went down were healthy. The wind just uprooted them.”

He said Forest Service roads in the area look like the game of “pick-up sticks.”