Storm shuts down Portland
Monday, December 22, 2008 10:17 AM PST
PORTLAND (AP) — Roads, stores and even some churches were empty the last Sunday before Christmas as a rare winter storm brought the Portland metropolitan area to a halt.
Freezing rain left a coating of ice on the 4-to-8 inches of snow that hit the region Saturday. More snow and icy rain fell Sunday afternoon and evening, adding to the fender-benders, power outages and downed tree limbs that had been accumulating all weekend.
Public safety officials asked people to stay home, but their words were not needed. The list of closures stretched from churches and libraries to the Oregon Zoo and the Oregon Humane Society.
Despite being the last shopping weekend before Christmas, the Pioneer Place mall early Sunday afternoon had the amount of customers one might expect at closing time on a weeknight in March.
The streets of downtown Portland were mostly empty, with pedestrians only occasionally forced to the unshoveled sidewalks to make room for a slow-moving car. By nightfall, the bridges that cross the Willamette River were free of vehicles for minutes at a time.
Transportation agencies closed Interstate 84 in both directions between Troutdale and Hood River.Vehicles were banned on a portion of U.S. 26 and many secondary highways.
