Oct. 29--Gusty winds in the Mat-Su area have knocked out power to between 700 and 1,000 customers in the Matanuska Electric Association service territory, MEA spokeswoman Lorali Carter said this afternoon. MEA serves more than 45,000 customers between Eagle River and the upper Susitna Valley north of Trapper Creek.

Carter said 15 outages had been reported throughout the area, from Wasilla to the Glenn Highway and on Knik-Goose Bay Road.

Clint Vardeman, deputy director of Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services, said emergency responders had been called out to five power line-related calls this afternoon, including one call to a residence on Cumberland Circle, between Wasilla and Palmer, in which a birch tree fell, bringing power lines against a home and trapping a resident inside temporarily. No injuries were reported in that case or others, Vardeman said.

Carter said residents who call to report an outage should do so from their home phones, not a cell phone, so the address will be recognized instantly by the cooperative's computer system. She encouraged callers to use the automated phone system, which automatically records outage locations, rather than trying to wait on the line to speak to dispatchers.

The National Weather Service reports strong winds with gusts up to 50 mph at times are expected to continue in the Matanuska Valley through Saturday morning.

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