Wild windstorm slams region

SANDPOINT — Monday’s windstorm wreaked havoc in the area, knocking out power to almost 50,000 people across Idaho and Washington and toppling trees all over the region.

Winds hit as high as 54 mph at the Sandpoint Airport — tied for second highest in the region, according to the National Weather Service in Spokane.

Local law enforcement responded to a heavy stream of calls throughout the day, with trees and power lines reported down and across roadways.

Multiple Nixle alerts warned residents of roads closed due to hazardous conditions or power lines down. Despite a Bonner County Sheriff's Office advisory warning residents to avoid the waterways due to hazardous conditions, several windsurfers hit the area around City Beach.

Larry Stone noticed the winds had sent his barbecue cover sailing and headed out to look for it, figuring he’d find it caught up against a nearby fence or tree. By the time he returned to his Jefferson Avenue home, the winds had sent a dangling tree top — broken off earlier in the storm — crashing downward, just hitting the eaves of his home, causing minor damage.

"It's kind of ironic," Stone said of his hunt for the barbecue cover and subsequent return to find his home damaged by a falling treetop.

Stone said the treetop landed between two ornamental trees and damaged a several-foot section of the roof.

"Really, nothing major," he added.

Karen Paugh, who lives on south Fourth Avenue, wasn't so lucky when a neighbor's tree was sent crashing to the ground by the storm, just missing her home and that of her neighbor.

Paugh said she had just woken up, taking it easy because of the holiday, when she noticed the winds picking up and thought about getting up to move her car.

She said she had just put her slippers on when she heard a yell for someone to run. "I then literally saw the tree just come crashing down onto my car."

Since the incident, a video of the tree crashing down went viral on social media, Paugh said there has been a steady stream of people driving past, taking photos and checking out the damage.

Jessy Bishop, who lives nearby, captured the tree toppling over on her cellphone's camera. The family had been taking down an awning at the home about 30 minutes before the tree went down.

"We heard a pop sound. We thought it was electrical," she said. "We went out front to investigate and saw another neighbor looking toward the tree."

That's when she turned her phone toward the tree to capture the swaying motion when suddenly the tree crashed to the ground, brushing the front of the homes but landing on Paugh's car.

The storm knocked out power to tens of thousands, with more than 33,000 Avista customers in Idaho and Washington and more than 12,000 Northern Lights, Inc. customers in the region losing power. By 9 p.m., Avista said crews had restored power to about 14,000 of its 36,000 customers who were without power at the height of the storm.

With the windstorm dying down, Avista officials said the pace of restoration efforts were expected to pick up.

All available Avista crews along with 19 contract and 13 vegetation management crews have been deployed in Washington and Idaho to complete the restoration effort. These crews are completing assessment, vegetation management and line work to repair damage caused by the windstorm.

"After preliminary assessments, it’s clear that the storm caused damage to both the transmission and distribution systems, with the primary damage involving trees coming into contact with lines and bringing wires down," Avista officials said. "There were also some areas where poles will need to be replaced."

Officials said in addition to outages being reported well into the afternoon, Avista’s system is operating under dry land mode, an approach to decrease the potential for wildfires and requires crews to physically patrol certain rural and forested areas before the lines can be re-energized.

"With assessments ongoing and widespread damage anticipated, customers should be prepared for a prolonged outage of 1-2 days and seek personal resources as needed," Avista said in the press release. "Once crews have been able to assess each area, we will provide updated restoration times for our customers."

Avista said crews would first work to restore power to critical infrastructure, such as transmission lines and substations, and emergency facilities like hospitals. Once critical customers are restored, crews would then work to make repairs that will restore power along impacted distribution feeder lines to a larger number of customers.

That could leave some customers without power while their neighbors have been restored. Crews will come back through to restore individual outages in neighborhoods, Avista officials said.

"Avista crews will continue working as quickly and as safely as possible to restore power to all of our customers," officials said. "We thank them for their patience."

Avista customers can report outages or find the latest information at myavista.com/outage, through the outage app or by calling 1-800-227-9187.

Northern Lights, Inc., reported a large number of outages caused by the storm as well, with 96 total outages throughout its coverage area. More than 12,000 members lost power with most still without power well into the evening.

"This morning’s windstorm is causing widespread damage, all available crews are responding in the quickest and safest manner possible," NLI posted to its website. "We appreciate your patience as we work to get everyone back in service."

NLI members without power are advised to call 1-866-665-4837 to report an outage.

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.