Sunday night windstorm knocks out power

Sunday evening's windstorm, that included gusts of nearly 50 mph, toppled trees into power lines and knocked out power to an estimated 22,000 Avista customers and 8,000 Kootenai Electric Cooperative members.

All KEC members had power restored by 11:15 a.m. Monday, while as of 3:30 p.m. Monday, only 258 Avista customers remained without power, and efforts to restore service were continuing.

Power outages started to appear in Avista's Idaho and Washington service territory about 7 p.m. Sunday and continued throughout the evening. Thirty-four line crews and seven tree crews worked throughout the evening to restore power to Avista customers, according to an Avista spokesperson.

Across the region, trees coming into contact with electric lines and equipment caused significant damage to the transmission and distribution system. As of Monday, line crews had replaced 15 power poles that were damaged as a result of the storm, Avista said.

KEC's Erika Neff said it lost transmission power about 10:15 p.m. Sunday to its substations serving more than 8,000 members in the northern part of its service territory near Athol, Twin Lakes, Hayden, Garwood and Spirit Lake.

Crews worked through the night and power was restored to all KEC members late Monday morning.

According to the National Weather Service, Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls had gusts of about 40 mph, while the Spokane International Airport had winds of nearly 50 mph.