High winds, mechanical failures disrupt electricity across region

Tribune

Electrical power was restored to all but a handful of houses in the Deary area late Monday afternoon.

The power outage resulted from a combination of mechanical failures and wind damage, which knocked out service to 3,624 residences in the Lewiston Orchards and more than 700 in the Genesee region.

In all, more than 4,500 Avista Utilities customers were without service at about noon, some as far away as Spokane.

In Lewiston, a tree blew over power lines, which may have caused a power pole to break. Similar incidents were reported at 21st Street and Grelle Avenue, and farther west at 10th and Grelle. Traffic was stopped briefly at 10th Street intersections with Burrell and Grelle avenues while power lines were moved and other cleanup accomplished.

Debbie Simock of Avista customer relations at Spokane said a transformer failure was being blamed for some of the problems, but details were unavailable.