Wednesday, November 18, 2015
What we know so far about the record-setting windstorm that tore through the PNW
Photo Courtesy of Felicia Diamond
A tree that fell on a condo complex between 3rd and 4th in Browne's Addition across the street from Coeur d'Alene Park.
A windstorm causing record-setting power outages ripped across the Pacific Northwest yesterday with gusts reaching 137 mph in some places. Three people are dead and more than 300,000 people throughout the state lost power at some point since Tuesday.
Three people died:
- Around 1 pm, a tree fell on a car near Sultan, Washington, killing the man inside.
- A Spokane woman was crushed by a tree that feel on West 14th just before 3:30 yesterday, Spokane police confirmed.
- Another driver was killed on State Route 904 near Cheney when a tree fell on her car.
Currently, 139,000 Avista customers throughout Washington and Idaho are without power, down from 180,000 at the height of the hurricane-force winds. That's more than 30 percent of Avista's customers in the two states. 113,000 of those customers are in Spokane County. The company stated it will be three to five days before most customers get service restarted.
This is the largest crisis in our 126 year history. Our latest update is on our Facebook page. https://t.co/NiNA846UH2
— Avista Utilities (@AvistaUtilities) November 18, 2015Powerful winds:
Gusts reached up to 137 mph at the Mission Ridge Ski area in Chelan County, according to the National Weather Service. In Spokane, winds topped out at 71 mph; 101 mph in Bonner County, 67 mpg in Kootenai County and 82 mph in Shoshone County.
Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing tonight:
- The Red Cross opened a shelter at 1404 N. Ash St. (at the Girl Scouts facility) that is open 24 hours and is accepting all ages and pets.
- The Salvation Army warming center on 222 E. Indiana is open from 6 pm to 7 am and will take all ages. The power is currently out, but they have blankets.
- The House of Charity at 32 W. Pacific is accepting single adults only and will open at 6 pm.
30,244 Inland Power and Light customers throughout Washington and Idaho are without power.
As of 10 am, Vera Water and Power reported that about 2,000 of its customers were without power.
Kootenai Electric Cooperative is reporting approximately 10,000 customers are without power. The KEC website is telling customers the outages could last a week or more.
About 2,497 Portland General Electric customers are without power.
Keep scrolling for images of the damage: (and click here for a slideshow of Inlander photographer Young Kawk's photos)
A gnarly wind storm came through North #Spokane! #iPhone5 (IG: ) pic.twitter.com/HJgrwRss4v" http://t.co/2shsUuaiui #Spokane
— Donna Henry (@DonnaSellsSpo) August 3, 2014This tree snapped off like a twig and crushed this car. A woman was inside at the time. Remarkably she's ok pic.twitter.com/8vwtFsidaJ
— Ryan Simms (@KREMRyan) November 17, 2015Windstorm topples tree onto #Spokane man's car. http://t.co/2saEoZOmVt #KXLY pic.twitter.com/eGXYyTl8YT
— #kxly 4 News (@kxly4news) October 27, 2014The Red Cross has opened a shelter for victim's of Tuesday's windstorm: https://t.co/PgnoSm8KZl #KXLy #InlandWind pic.twitter.com/93LzxxMrMw
— Stevee Chapman (@SteveeKXLY) November 18, 2015#spokane #inlandwind #windstorm #windstorm2015 pic.twitter.com/A10AgQIB6w
— Dan Hayes (@danlhayes) November 18, 2015
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About The Author
Mitch Ryals
Mitch covers cops, crime and courts for the Inlander. He moved to Spokane in 2015 from his hometown of St. Louis, and is a graduate of the University of Missouri. He likes bikes, beer and baseball. And coffee. He dislikes lemon candy, close-mindedness and liars. And temperatures below 40 degrees.
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