Plugged back in
A blue spruce, blown down in Monday's windstorm, covers Lana Peterson's car. The Hope resident said the tree was large enough that a portion also struck her home's garage.
(Photo courtesy LANA PETERSON)
A blue spruce fills the porch of Hope resident Lana Peterson's home after being blown down in Monday's windstorm.
Photo by Paul Webster Lightning flashes in the sky Monday night in North Idaho.
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Power was restored Tuesday to most homes and businesses that lost electricity during Monday's windstorm, which produced gusts of more than 60 mph in North Idaho.
Avista reported early Tuesday it had restored power to roughly 32,000, or about 94%, of the 34,000 customers who lost power at the height of the storm Monday evening.
Nearly all remaining customers had power restored by end of day on Tuesday. As of late Tuesday evening, there were only 23 active outages in the region affecting 734 customers with less than four dozen in Bonner County.
Northern Lights officials reported an estimated 55 outages in its system, with scattered outages affected 10 or so customers in North Idaho and larger scale outages in western Montana from north of Troy to south and west of Libby. A total of 3,516 customers remained without power on Tuesday evening.
"The storm impacted both transmission and distribution lines, causing damage throughout Avista’s Washington and Idaho service territory," Avista officials said in a press release.
Avista officials said the utility remains well-staffed and focused on restoration efforts. The storm impacted both transmission and distribution lines, causing damage throughout Avista’s Washington and Idaho service territory.
The majority of the remaining outages were in areas most impacted by the high winds. Most outages were caused when branches and trees hit power lines.
In much of the region, a few fallen trees, toppled trash cans and torn tarps were all that remained of Monday's storm. However, Hope resident Lana Peterson was among those who has a more permanent reminder — a tree on top of her car and part of her garage.
"I heard a couple of loud thunks, and had to use a lantern to see what was happening," Peterson told the Daily Bee. However, it wasn't until Tuesday morning when she was able to get outside — gingerly making her way around the blue spruce filling up her home's porch — to check on the damage.
The tree cracked her windshield and the car mirror when it landed on the vehicle. The rest of the tree missed the house but a portion landed on the garage, Peterson said, adding she was waiting to hear what damage that structure might have sustained.
However, she said no one in the home and neither of her pets were injured in the storm.
Colder temperatures are expected this week, and the area could see snow on Friday.
