The Latest: 5 escape injury when Hillsboro roof collapses

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Latest on the snowstorm in Oregon and southwest Washington (all times local):

11:55 a.m.

Hillsboro Fire and Rescue says five people escaped injury when the roof of the warehouse in which they were sleeping collapsed.

Spokesman Storm Smith said the three men and two women were wet from flooding caused by fire-sprinkler pipes. Police officers took them to headquarters to warm them up and arrange for Red Cross clothing and housing assistance.

The warehouse is not permitted as residence. Smith says the damage estimate is $250,000.

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9:45 a.m.

The Bend-La Pine School District has closed all its schools for roof assessments after a gymnasium roof collapsed at an elementary school Thursday morning.

The school district said on its website that nobody was in the gym when the roof fell at Highland Magnet at Kenwood School in Bend.

The district says there will be no school Thursday or Friday.

The weight from 2 feet of snow has strained roofs in Central Oregon. Bend firefighters responded to a collapsed building Wednesday evening near the Old Mill District, and a FedEx distribution centre was evacuated because a collapse was feared.

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7 a.m.

Schools are closed and more than 5,000 Portland General Electric customers remain without power as the Portland area recovers from one of the biggest snowstorms in its history.

Almost a foot of snow fell in downtown Portland Tuesday and Wednesday, and freezing temperatures will keep it in place the next few days. Roads are slippery and many sidewalks are icy and treacherous.

Trimet, the Portland-based regional mass transit agency, said buses and light-rail trains are running on their normal weekday schedules, but warned people to avoid unnecessary travel.

Portland General Electric says power outages affecting more than 63,000 customers have been repaired, but the heavy snow continues to bring down trees and branches.