More Pacific Power crews move to hard-hit Roseburg as progress is made restoring customers in other counties

Pacific Power - 02/28/19

ROSEBURG, OREGON – Feb. 28, 2019 –Pacific Power crews continue to make steady progress in restoring power to customers in Lane, Josephine and Douglas Counties. Crews have worked around the clock to assess damage and make repairs since Sunday when the initial storm caused substantial damage and rendered critical roads impassable.

Pacific Power crews made substantial progress in restoring power to about 1,200 customers in Grants Pass, Lebanon and Cottage Grove since yesterday evening. In that same timeframe, approximately 3,000 customers were restored in the Roseburg area.

“The crews that are coming off of the work in Albany and adjacent districts will now head down to Roseburg to assist with the ongoing assessment and restoration work there,” said David Lucas, vice president of operations. “A lot of the work still left to do around Roseburg is in difficult terrain. Some of the damage is in remote areas where our crews are hiking in to make the assessments necessary to restore power safely.”

Starting Friday morning, 31 crews will be in the Roseburg areas to help remove trees, repair lines and other damaged equipment. The goal is to get most Roseburg area residents back in power by Sunday. 

“Thank you to the businesses, to community organizations and to all the neighbors who have helped – and continue to help each other as we get through this,” said Lucas. “And thank you for the messages of support we’ve been receiving about the crews working on the lines.”  

As the restoration continues, Pacific Power asks that residents concentrate on their own safety and comfort.

• Stay away from any downed power lines. Even if the lines are not sparking, they could be energized and extremely dangerous. Call 911 immediately and then call us toll free at 1-877-508-5088 to report. Keep everyone, including pets, out of the area.
• Never use kerosene or propane heaters inside without proper ventilation. They create dangerous fumes. Also, don't use charcoal in your house or garage. If you use a fireplace or wood stove to keep warm, pay careful attention to fire hazards.
• Stay warm by wearing multiple layers of clothing. Add a hat and blanket for extra comfort.  Put blankets or towels around windows and doors to help keep the heat in.
• Protect your pipes during freezing weather by wrapping them with insulation. Also, leave faucets dripping so water won't freeze and crack the pipes.
• As much as possible, don’t open refrigerators and freezers -they will keep food and perishables inside cold for some time when kept closed.
• Check on your neighbors, especially those who may need special assistance. Check with others who have electricity, to see if you can visit.
• If you use a portable electric generator, please do so with caution. Remember to follow the manufacturer's instructions. Generators should be outside or in a well ventilated unoccupied space.  Never plug your generator into an outlet and don't connect a generator directly to your home's main fuse box or circuit panel. This can create a dangerous back feed hazard for line crews.

For more tips, please visit pacificpower.net/outage.

Warming shelters in Douglas County are located at:

Dream Center Warming Shelter

813 SE Lane Avenue, Roseburg

Roseburg Rescue Mission

752 SE Pine Street, Roseburg,

Sutherlin Community Center

150 Willamette Street, Sutherlin, OR

Winston Foursquare Church,
540 SE Main St, Winston

Yoncalla Elementary Gym,
400 First Street, Yoncalla

Drain Civic Center,
Civic Center

"A" Avenue, Drain

Customers and media representatives can also track outages of any size online. Updates will be made as new information becomes available or at least hourly at pacificpower.net/outage.