Severe thunderstorm takes down trees
Photo by NORTH BENCH FIRE North Bench Firefighters cleared more than 20 trees from roadways following strong winds and thunderstorms on Tuesday night.
Photo by STACY THOMAS-MERRITT The severe thunderstorm that hit late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, brought strong winds that took trees down across the county.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN High wind gusts took down many trees and caused extreme power outages.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN A tree broken from the storm, dangles precariously over Westside Road.
BONNERS FERRY — A line of severe thunderstorms, along with high winds, blew through Boundary County late Tuesday night and into the early hours of Wednesday morning, taking down trees across the county.
According to the North Bench Fire District Facebook page, firefighters responded to an individual who was struck by one of the falling trees and pinned beneath it, and aided Boundary Ambulance in removing the patient from under the tree.
First responders spent the rest of the night and next morning removing dangerous trees from roadways. North Bench Fire crews spent more than seven hours checking 25 roads and clearing over 20 trees.
According to South Boundary Fire Chief Tony Rohrwasser, they always prepare when they know a bad storm is coming, by heading down to the station. The South Boundary Firefighters cleared three trees and drove around their district, making sure that roadways were clear. Rohrwasser said that not many trees were down on roadways, except in the Mountain Meadows and Green Pasture Road areas.
“It seemed to be quite isolated down there,” said Rohrwasser.
The downed trees from the storm caused widespread power outages, with Northern Lights reporting a total of 3,704 members affected.