SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Families across Spokane County woke up Wednesday morning to a scene of destruction as a powerful windstorm toppled massive trees, damaged homes and left tens of thousands without electricity.
“I came out of the house and saw a hook and ladder truck, and this big tree down,” said Dave Carlyle, who lives on Waikiki Road across from Alberta Lane, where a giant tree fell in the early morning hours on top of a house, blocking the main road into the neighborhood.
At the storm’s peak, Avista reported around 80,000 customers were without power across the region. While thousands have had their electricity restored throughout the day, many families across the Inland Northwest remain in the dark.
Avista CEO Heather Rosentrater warned that some customers could face extended outages lasting through the weekend as crews work to repair extensive damage across the utility’s service area.
“So we encourage our community to check on their neighbors, to help support,” Rosentrater said.
The widespread power outages affected critical businesses that residents typically rely on during severe weather events. The General Store, a popular destination for emergency supplies, lost power but remained open to serve customers.
Co-owner Miles Barany and his brother refused to close, instead having staff walk customers through the darkened store using headlamps to help them find essential items.
“All our power was out except for emergency lights,” Barany said. “It’s whenever these things happen, people think, oh, I should probably have, x, Y and Z, like chainsaws, headlamps, propane.”
The windstorm created particularly hazardous conditions in tree-heavy neighborhoods. Carlyle, whose property sits among numerous large trees, described the stress of living through the severe weather.
“There’s probably not more than 15 that could strike the house. Little scary at times,” he said. “It’s a windstorm, but still close to home, which makes it scarier.”
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