Wednesday, July 23, 2025
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Plugged back in

BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 8 months AGO
by BILL BULEY
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | November 17, 2021 1:09 AM

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 Tuesday.

"The storm impacted both transmission and distribution lines, causing damage throughout Avista’s Washington and Idaho service territory," a press release said.

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.

There were a few fallen trees, toppled trash cans and torn tarps left behind Tuesday morning. Otherwise, there were few signs of the storm that lasted several hours.

By early Tuesday afternoon, Avista's power outage map showed only eight outages in the Coeur d'Alene, Huetter and Post Falls areas affecting fewer than 50 customers.

Kootenai Electric Cooperative had several thousand customers without power Monday. Crews made good progress Tuesday and by early afternoon it had about 115 members experiencing outages and 26 separate outages.

"In addition, we have another 17 areas on the system not causing outages but in need of repairs, such as a tree on a line," a release said.

KEC expected to have power restored by 10 p.m., with the exception of those members who have meter base or service mast damage, which will require an electrician to repair.

Colder temperatures are expected this week, and the area could see snow on Friday.

MORE FRONT-PAGE-SLIDER STORIES

Windstorm hammers North Idaho
Bonners Ferry Herald | Updated 4 years, 10 months ago
Winds affect more than 5,500 in Kootenai County
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 3 years, 3 months ago
Plugged back in
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 3 years, 8 months ago

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