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City Of Drain Residents Asked To Ration Water Usage

<p>Water bottles in the hallway of Llewellyn Elementary in Sellwood, a neighborhood in Southeast Portland, on Wednesday, June 1, 2016.</p>

Bradley W. Parks

Water bottles in the hallway of Llewellyn Elementary in Sellwood, a neighborhood in Southeast Portland, on Wednesday, June 1, 2016.

Residents in the City of Drain in Douglas County are being asked to ration water usage Friday. 

This comes after Douglas County and other areas in Oregon were hit with severe winter storms resulting in prolonged power outages. 

That county was one of the 10 where Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency Thursday. 

"The area was hit pretty severely with a winter storm," said Sgt. Brad O'Dell, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office public information officer. "The county has lost power in most of the communities."

O'Dell said power companies are working diligently to restore electricity to the area, but in the meantime, the power outage is affecting Drain's water pumping abilities.

"The cities are having issues with power-related services like pumping water to their holding tanks," he said, "and that's what's happening there."

Drain residents are being asked to buy water from local stores if they run out of drinking water.

Copyright 2019 Oregon Public Broadcasting

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Meerah Powell is a general assignment and breaking news reporter for OPB. She previously worked as a news reporter and podcast producer for Eugene Weekly in her hometown of Eugene, Oregon. Along with writing and audio work, Meerah also has experience with photography and videography. She graduated from the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication.