Winter storm knocks out power in Boundary County
—Photo by ROBERT JAMES<br>A large dead tree tips perilously over an embankment in Bonners Ferry Monday. The tree fell and hit the garage on the left, owned by Don James, damaging the roof. Rain may have contributed to the tree falling as Bonners Ferry has received more rain in the last 10 days than the average for the entire month.
By ROBERT JAMES
Managing Editor
A dead tree in Montana, 35 miles east of Bonners Ferry, knocked out power to much of Boundary County during a winter storm Sunday afternoon after it fell on a main transmission line between Troy, Montana and Bonners Ferry.
The first reported power outage along the line occurred at 2:37 p.m. Sunday, Carrie Reese, spokesperson for the Bonneville Power Administration, said. BPA maintains the line.
"Basically it knocked out everything north of the (Kootenai) River," Steven Boorman, Bonners Ferry City Administrator, said. The affected area stretched from Moravia south of Bonners Ferry all the way up to Canada.
Bonners Ferry responded to the outage by rerouting the North Bench substation through another circuit to restore power, Boorman said. Even so, it took a few hours for all customers to get their power back on.
The tree caused a "fault-to-ground" short-circuit in the line, which serves Bonners Ferry, Libby and Troy, Montana, Reese said. BPA dispatched a repair crew from Kalispell Sunday and power was restored through the line by 5:47 p.m., she said. BPA restored power to all affected customers prior to the line being repaired by rerouting power through other lines, Reese said.
The tree shut down two separate substations in Boundary County, knocking the Moyie and North Bench facilities off-line, Boorman said.
The storm dropped rain and snow throughout the county, adding to the already-saturated ground. In the last 10 days, Boundary County has collected 4.29 inches of rain. The average for the entire month is just 3.03 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
The wet soil can cause trees to fall as their root systems lose their grip, NWS meteorologist Kerry Jones said.
In Bonners Ferry, one homeowner awoke to the sound of a large dead tree falling on to his garage.
The tree toppled over at 5 a.m. and landed on a garage owned by Don James of Bonners Ferry. It damaged the roof by buckling the steel panels and caused the entire roof to shift.
Boundary County Schools closed due to the storm and several meetings were cancelled. By 3 p.m., however, all the snow had melted in Bonners Ferry.
The weather forecast calls for more rain all this week, except for Tuesday, Jones said. In fact, the Wednesday forecast has a "100 percent" chance of precipitation for Bonners Ferry, he said.