SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Spokane and North Idaho residents are seeing the aftermath of strong winds that hit the region on Friday night. The strong winds left thousands without power and some downed branches across the roads.
A High Wind Warning was issued for a majority of the Inland Northwest from 5 p.m. Friday to 11 a.m. Saturday morning. Wind gusts up to 60 mph caused power outages and tree damage.
Crews worked through the night and restored power for some customers. As of Sunday at 9 a.m., more than 100 customers in North Idaho are still without power, and crews are still working to restore the power for residents living in the following areas:
- Coeur d’Alene (15th St./French Gulch, Cougar Gulch)
- Bayview
According to the Kootenai Electric Cooperative website, due to the severity of the damage, it is still unknown the estimated restoration time for those areas. Another update will be provided at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
In the Spokane area, Avista’s electric system was impacted primarily by trees and branches falling into lines leaving 18,000 customers without power. However, Avista crews restored the power in some areas. As of 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, Avista is reporting 27 active outages, which is affecting more than 1,300 customers.
Avista suggests customers take the following steps during an outage:
- Turn off all the appliances that were on before the power went out.
- Unplug electronic equipment, including computers.
- Leave a light or radio on as an alert when power has been restored.
- Help Avista crews working in a neighborhood know which homes have power by turning on the front porch light.
- Do not wire an emergency generator into a home’s electrical system, unless there is a disconnect switch to separate generated power from Avista’s distribution system. Backfeed into power lines could injure or kill a lineman working to get electricity restored.
- Use a generator only to run specific appliances and locate it outside so poisonous carbon monoxide fumes do not enter the home.
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