Winds Knock Out Electricity Six Power Poles Ripped From The Ground In Deer Park

Winds gusting to more than 50 mph knocked down trees and power lines Sunday in the Inland Northwest, causing scattered power outages.

The powerful winds died down by nightfall, but more than 3,000 Washington Water Power Co. customers were still without electricity.

Throughout the day, firefighters and repair crews rushed to reports of downed lines from Spokane and Deer Park to the Palouse and North Idaho.

“This is a pretty good spring storm,” said WWP spokeswoman Susan Nielsen.

Nielsen expected power to be fully restored by midnight.

The National Weather Service measured the strongest gust in Spokane at 54 mph. Today’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and 10 to 15 mph winds, said meteorologist Irv Haynes.

In North Idaho, a truck rolled into what could have been a shocking situation Sunday after its axles got tangled up in a downed power line.

The truck was heading along south Hayden Lake Road when its driver saw - too late - a live power line strung out across the street. It got wound up around the truck’s axles about 2 p.m.

One of the people inside the truck got out. Firefighters and Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies showed up, and made the other person stay inside. Then, officials closed the road.

No one was hurt.

Crews stayed on the scene for about an hour, waiting for WWP to cut electricity to the line, said Lt. Brad Belmont of the Hayden Fire Department.

Authorities weren’t sure what caused the downed line, but Belmont suspects the damage was caused by a wind-whipped tree.

In Deer Park, where one of the biggest outages was reported, six power poles were ripped from the ground Sunday afternoon along Dalton Road. The road was closed for four hours while WWP crews replaced the poles and restored power.

Elsewhere, the Weather Service reported a 62 mph wind gust in Waterville in Douglas County, and a 60 mph wind gust at Ford in Stevens County.

Meanwhile, a flood warning was issued for the Coeur d’Alene River in North Idaho late Sunday. The river was expected to reach the 43-foot flood stage at midnight at Cataldo, and rise to 46 feet by this afternoon.

The Weather Service said it will likely remain at or above flood stage into the middle of the week.

The Weather Service also issued small stream flood advisories for Pend Oreille and Stevens counties in Washington, and Bonner and Boundary counties in North Idaho.

Mudslides closed County Road 24 east of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

A flood warning also continued for the St. Joe River at St. Maries, Idaho, late Sunday. At 9 p.m., the river was at 31.6 feet and rising. It was expected to top the 32.5 foot flood stage this morning, and rise to 35 feet by this afternoon.

There was small-stream flooding Sunday in Bonner County, Idaho, fueled by 1.8 inches of rain that hit the Sandpoint area during a 24-hour period.

In Chewelah, Wash., high water from Chewelah Creek covered portions of the town’s main street, authorities said.

Floodwater Sunday was up to 2 inches deep, but traffic was moving along U.S. Highway 395 through the town.

A one-day rainfall record for April was set Saturday at Spokane International Airport, when 0.96 of an inch fell. That broke the old mark of 0.94 set in 1982, the Weather Service said.

, DataTimes