Wind and debris knocks out power

Matanuska Electric Association is experiencing a number of outages throughout the Mat Su Valley.

Outages occurred over the weekend as strong winds blew debris into power lines.  MEA spokesperson Lorali Carter says that trees have fallen on lines in certain areas.  MEA is paying extra for contract crews to come in and help clear debris from power lines across the upper and lower valleys.    She says crews came on at 4 pm to work through the evening.  All outages as of 4 p.m. were occurring in the core area around Wasilla.

Carter says the outages will occur periodically as long as the strong winds continue to blow trees and other debris into lines.

Carter says the best way to report an outage is the automated system at 746-7697.