Windstorm rattles North Idaho

Cheryl Corwin heard a loud crack as a tree fell on a neighbor's home during the windstorm around 1 a.m. Thursday on Lugo Court in Post Falls. 

“Everybody came in; they had our whole street blocked off. The foundation of the house — it’s completely off the blocks,” Corwin said. 

The interior walls had cracked from the weight of the tree, and Nicole Hopkins, her boyfriend, and her son ran outside to look at the pine tree that had fallen on the house. 

Her son wound up having a too-close-call moment during the confusion that followed.

“We heard the house shake and the tree was leaning against the house,” Hopkins said. “He went back in and not five seconds later, the floor collapsed underneath him.” 

The bathroom was gone, and her son was in danger. First responders were able to get him out of the collapsed structure.

“He's doing pretty good, but he’s got bumps and bruises and scratches and everything,” Hopkins said. “Yes, thank God, he came out of it in one piece.” 

Three other trees on Lugo Court, Selkirk Avenue and Collingwood Avenue hit houses in the Post Falls neighborhood. One also struck a truck. 

Scores of trees toppled by strong winds Thursday went down throughout Kootenai County. Many took out power lines, leaving thousands without power. Several homes were damaged and a number of roads were blocked.

The National Weather Service recorded a wind speed of 64 in Coeur d’Alene. Magee Peak in Shoshone County recorded a speed of 82 mph. Bonner County had a recorded speed of 84 mph at Lakeview Triple. Spirit Lake winds reached 59 mph. Climatologist Cliff Harris recorded a wind speed of 78 mph in Coeur d’Alene.  

More than 40 crews are working to repair storm damage on 503 separate outage incidents, according to reports by Avista Utilities.

“At the peak of this storm, we had 60,988 customers with power out," Avista Spokesman David Vowels said. "Our crews were able to respond very quickly and were able to repair a lot of those outages and incidents quickly and restore power to a good number of customers.”  

By 10 p.m. Thursday, Avista reported 355 outages affecting 10,772.

The biggest obstacle is the smaller outages that require more time and effort to repair, Vowels said.

“We have been able to fly our helicopter through over the transmission lines to assess damage,” Vowels said. “After a big storm, it does take some time to assess, get out there and do the repairs."

Restoration of power in most areas is expected by today, but Vowels said the outlying areas like the Silver Valley likely won’t have power until Saturday. 

Kootenai Electric Cooperative initially reported that 8,500 people were without power Thursday. A later release said power was restored to more than 4,000 members, but significant damage remained. 

KEC crews were working to repair a dozen broken poles and restore power to more than 70 separate outages. 

Hopkins said she is staying at a hotel for the moment and is in the process of contacting the Red Cross. 

However, the storm damage might speed up plans to leave town.

"We’re going to move to Wyoming where’s there’s high winds, but not as many pine trees," Hopkins quipped.

    A fallen tree hit a home and a truck on Collingwood Avenue in Post Falls during the windstorm in the early hours on Thursday.
  

    Kootenai Electric Cooperative crews worked through the night into Thursday morning, repairing damage from the windstorm.

Nicole Hopkins said a tree fell on their home around 1 a.m. Thursday in Post Falls, cracking the walls and foundation, and trapping her son, Ash Hopkins inside. He was cut out of the structure by first responders and was all right, experiencing only bumps, bruises and scratches from the incident.