Wind drives power outages, leaving 10,000 Clark County households in the dark

Windy weather Thursday morning caused about 10,000 Clark Public Utilities customers to lose power briefly, but crews had most of the problems fixed within a few hours.

“Those outages were all driven by weather. That should be familiar to residents of Clark County at this time of year,” utility spokesman Dameon Pesanti said.

Trees falling into power lines caused temporary outages in numerous places, from downtown Vancouver to rural Woodland and Yacolt. A utility pole damaged by a driver may have caused some customers to experience “a blink” in power service, he said.

Clark County residents experiencing power outages should first call Clark Public Utilities at 360-992-3000, Pesanti said. Don’t call 911 unless there is an emergency, such as a fire or injury.

“We hear from CRESA all the time when there’s an outage — they get flooded with calls,” he said of dispatcher Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency.

Meanwhile, Pesanti said, keep your refrigerator closed for as long as possible to keep food fresh and turn large appliances off.

To stay prepared for power outages, keep fresh batteries for flashlights and other appliances on hand. Don’t forget that you can recharge your cellphone through your car battery. Set your cellphone on lower power usage. Be careful not to drain your car battery.

If overgrown trees appear too close to power lines, contact Clark Public Utilities for more help.