Windstorm rips through Crook County

A violent windstorm ripped through Crook County early Tuesday evening downing numerous trees and branches and knocking out power to much of Prineville.

The storm hit around 7:30 p.m., shortly after the National Weather Service issued a warning of a severe thunderstorm that was expected to produce gusts of up to 40 miles per hour and pea-sized hail in southern Wheeler and Jefferson counties and northern Crook and Deschutes counties.

The windstorm only lasted about an hour but left its mark.

According to Prineville Interim Police Chief Shane Wilson, when the storm hit, the dispatch board lit up with numerous calls for downed tree branches and trees and other windblown hazards. Later, the police department took a report of a blown transformer on Lynn Boulevard. Crook County Undersheriff Bill Elliott gave a similar report, saying the sheriff’s office took three calls for trees blown into the road – one on Madras Highway, one on O’Neil Highway and another on Highway 126.

“We had one call of plywood being blown form a lumber yard onto the street,” Elliott added. “We had one call of a tree falling into the power lines on Barnes Butte.”

Neither Wilson nor Elliott reported any calls for major damage or injuries.

Zach Lampert, facility manager at Meadow Lakes Golf Course, reported that the windstorm knocked over two trees on the golf course.

“Neither are highly impactful trees as far as play goes, so it could have been worse,” he said.

About 15 minutes after the storm hit Prineville, a power outage left nearly 3,000 local PacifiCorp customers without electricity. Spokesperson Simon Gutierrez said some causes are not yet determined but he noted that trees fell through multiple power lines and knocked them down. Power was fully restored by 12:40 a.m.

The outage caused problems with the city water supply. According to Prineville Public Works Director Casey Kaiser, about half of Prineville’s 29 wells were interrupted by the outage.

“Our crews worked most of the night and basically got everything restored by about 1 a.m.,” he said.

But the wells weren’t the thing affected by the outage. The Ochoco Pump Station, which is located near Loper Avenue, boosts water pressure for homes in Ochoco Heights, the Northridge subdivision and Yellowpine area.

“The nature of the outages resulted in some power surges, which destroyed some of the electrical components within the control cabinets for those booster pumps,” Kaiser explained.

An electrician was called out early in the morning and the booster pumps were repaired by 9 a.m.