FORT COLLINS, COLORADO — Crews were mopping up Thursday but were still bracing for more after the hurricane’s strong winds downed power lines and ignited wildfires along the Colorado Front Range and on the Great Plains.
Winds exceeding 100 mph (160 km/h) arrived late Wednesday after Xcel Energy preemptively cut power across most of its service area in eastern Colorado. The goal was to prevent fallen lines from starting fires — power lines had already been blown down in several areas.
By Thursday afternoon, about 60% power had been restored to nearly 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) of de-energized power lines. About 37,000 Xcel customers on the Front Range and in the Rocky Mountains were still without power.
Another round of outages is expected on Friday, with stronger winds expected over a longer period.
As crews worked to restore power to already affected customers, longer outages were likely Friday, the president of Xcel Energy-Colorado warned in a news conference.
“The power won’t come back the minute the wind stops because we have to inspect the lines,” said Robert Kenney, the company’s president.
In central Denver, power was out overnight, furniture was blown off apartment balconies, at least one apartment window was shattered, and fallen branches were scattered on the ground Thursday.
Local emergency management officials said in a Facebook post that winds Wednesday afternoon into Thursday fanned wildfires whose cause has not yet been determined in eastern Colorado, burning at least 14,000 acres (5,700 hectares) in Yuma County.
A grass fire on the south side of Cheyenne, Wyoming, forced the evacuation of a neighborhood for several hours Wednesday evening. However, no structures were burned.
Meanwhile, high winds and fire warnings were in effect across much of Kansas on Thursday. The Kansas Department of Transportation said in a news release that blowing dust reduced visibility so much that Interstate 70 near the state’s western line with Colorado was closed.
The statement urged motorists to consider delaying unnecessary travel.
In the Pacific Northwest, heavy rain continued to fall with snow falling on the mountains. Rivers have fallen in Washington since recent floods inundated communities, damaged roads and prompted more than 600 rescues.
Parts of southern Oregon and northern California are expected to see several inches (centimeters) of rain and strong winds Friday and into the weekend.
___
Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Gene Johnson in Seattle, and David Zalubowski in Denver contributed.