SUNRIVER, OR -- A late winter storm that dumped up to four feet of snow in some parts of Central Oregon, led to school closures, power outages and the cancelation of other services on Monday, and continues Tuesday. 

After Monday's Deschutes County Commissioners meeting was postponed, Commissioner Tony DeBone chose to use his snow day to work with a plow and sanding crew in South County. He says he was glad to help, "At the county, we've got a couple shifts and we're going to be working 24 hours a day for as long as we need to to just keep things moving. We've got multiple plows out and around. It's a county-wide event, so north end, south end, and the middle of the county. We've got a lot of staff working hard, right now."

 

At one point, DeBone's plowing adventure didn't go quite as planned, "We're stuck," he told KBND News just before noon, "But we'll get moving here in a moment. Nothing dangerous, we just can't seem to go uphill, in the snow, while plowing." He said the road was narrowing and crews worked to combat deep snow. "We're evaluating how to get to the top of this connection to Cascade Lakes Highway, and it looks like we may not be able to. We're trying to figure out how to keep the roads open up here. It's wild out here."

 

With record snowfall between Sunday and Monday, many Central Oregon roads are still not passable, Tuesday morning, and more snow is expected. Bend city officials say 34 pieces of equipment are deployed, but admit it could take another day to clear all 850 lane miles of city roads. Click HERE for information on the priority streets for city road crews. Click HERE to read more about Redmond's winter street operations. And, Deschutes County information can be found HERE. Officials encourage everyone to exercise caution and patience. They also ask that residents check on neighbors, especially the elderly. 

 

 

Pictures: (Top) Courtesy Deschutes County; (upper right and above) courtesy of Commissioner Tony DeBone.