24,000 still without power in North Idaho

Almost 24,000 North Idaho homes and businesses remain without power from damage caused by Tuesday’s powerful windstorm, three utilities reported Thursday morning.

Avista has over 10,800 customers still without service in the Idaho Panhandle. That includes 8,230 in Kootenai County, 1,015 in Bonner County, 1,005 in Shoshone County and 617 in Benewah County.

Kootenai Electric Cooperative reported that just under 8,000 of its customers are without service. The outages extend from Spirit Lake and Bayview south to Plummer.

The co-op called in additional crews, which are working in these areas: Spirit Lake East, Kidd Island, Lancaster, Garwood, Boekel/Ramsey, Cougar Gulch, Twin Lakes, Chilco, Strahorn/Hayden Lake Road, and Julia Street in Coeur d’Alene.

“At this time we estimate that the majority of members north of Interstate 90 can expect to have their power restored within the next day or two,” KEC said on its website. “We have crews assessing the damage and preparing the areas for restoration south of Coeur d’Alene and hope to have a restoration estimate later today.”

Northern Lights Inc., which serves the Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry areas and some parts of northwestern Montana, has almost 5,000 customers still without power.