Benton County officials warn of another storm bringing strong winds, heavy rain, and flooding risks as the county continues recovering from widespread outages.
Benton County, OR. — Benton County Emergency Management is sharing updated information from the National Weather Service (NWS) as another storm system is forecast to impact the county later this week, while recovery continues from last night’s severe weather.
County officials report multiple power outages caused by fallen trees and downed powerlines. As of Wednesday, approximately 2,400 Pacific Power customers and nearly 800 Consumers Power customers were without electricity. Power outages at key intersections have also led to significant traffic congestion across the county.
According to the latest NWS briefing, forecasters have high confidence that Benton County will experience another round of strong winds, heavy rainfall, and rising river levels. Sustained winds around 20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph are expected. Heavy rainfall is forecast between Thursday and Friday, with the heaviest precipitation anticipated Thursday between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m…