Thousands of homes in the mid-Willamette Valley were still without electricity Saturday night, nearly two days after a fierce windstorm toppled trees and snapped power poles in half.

Power was out to about 3,700 customers of Pacific Power in the Corvallis area, said Bekki Witt, a spokeswoman for the company.

"At the height it was 20,000, so we're making some progress," she said.

"We had lots of poles broken in half in that area - Corvallis, Albany. I imagine that's some of the problem," Witt added.

Rural homes also were without electricity in Kings Valley, Blodgett, Summit and west of Alsea.

Consumers Power Inc. had 2,200 customers without power in the six counties it serves, down from a high of 7,400 on Thursday night and Friday morning, said Mary Zimmerman, CPI spokeswoman.

Some spots with outages were close to having power restored, Zimmerman said. "Others, it could be for the night," she added. "It's just a matter of time."

Those left without electricity typically are in more isolated or heavily damaged areas, Zimmerman said.

Pacific Power had about 15,000 customers without power, and Clatsop County on the north Oregon coast accounted for the largest portion of that.

But the company also had nearly 1,800 customers without power around Albany and 1,500 without power around Lebanon.

CPI also had outages around Lebanon, Sweet Home, Stayton and Scio.

The cooperative, headquartered in Philomath, has four outside crews from throughout the state helping its linemen restore power. Those include workers from Hermiston, Medford, Monmouth and Salem.

Pacific Power also has crews helping out from its parent company in Iowa, Witt said.

Though the storm was serious, it certainly wasn't the worst problem in recent years for CPI, Zimmerman said.

Kyle Odegard covers Benton County government, Philomath and rural Benton County. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.