Storm knocks out power

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, Mont., and Bonners Ferry.

The first reported power outage along the line occurred at 2:37 p.m. on Sunday, Carrie Reese, spokesperson for the Bonneville Power Administration, said. BPA maintains the line.

"Basically it knocked out everything north of the (Kootenai) River," said Steven Boorman, Bonners Ferry city administrator. The affected area stretched from Moravia south of Bonners Ferry all the way 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.

Power was restored through the line by 5:47 p.m., Reese said. BPA restored power to all customers prior to the line being repaired by rerouting power through other lines, Reese 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.