Tillamook PUD Crews Provide Mutual Assistance to Southern Willamette Valley Area

Tillamook, OR – March 22, 2019 –Tillamook PUD crews responded to assist  Consumers Power Inc. (CPI) and Emerald PUD (EPUD) with power restoration efforts after an aggressive winter storm swept through the Southern Willamette Valley region in late February.

The extreme winter weather and heavy snow knocked down trees and power lines, broke poles, and caused significant damage in many locations. Thousands of customers were without power for several days, some for even weeks, as Tillamook PUD and crews from a number of utilities worked around the clock to restore power.

Crews traveled to Detroit Lake first to assist CPI. When their restoration work was completed at this location, Tillamook PUD crews made their way to the Cottage Grove and Lorane areas to assist EPUD with making repairs and restoring power to their widespread service territory.

Tillamook PUD would like to thank our community members and the people in the communities impacted by the storm, for the thoughtful messages and strong show of support extended to our crews. We also thank crewmembers: Kris Aufdermauer, Brett Baertlein, Kelly Burdick, AJ Dooher, Sam Gardner, Ryan Gobel, Simon Hagerty, Jeff Hercher, Michael Leach, Nathan Seaholm and David Smith, for responding to assist and for their exceptional work.