Wind damages considered 'minor'

Power restored to 2,166 Grant County PUD customers

EPHRATA - Wind-related power outages struck Monday for about 2,166 Grant County PUD customers.

Service was restored within one to three hours and the damage to the power system was considered much lesser than damage from last December's wind storm, which caused about $2.5 million worth of damages, or January's 100 mph wind storm that sheared about 100 power poles near Royal City and George.

A damage estimate for Monday's outages wasn't available Tuesday, but repairs ranged from a wire being knocked loose to a leaning power pole in the road after winds reaching 54 mph were recorded at Wanapum Dam, said the utility's spokesperson Dorothy Harris.

She called the damages "minor" and said they weren't much different from those being done on a daily basis.

Monday's outages were reported near George, Moses Lake, Royal City and Beverly Burke Road, she said.

The longest outage, of approximately three hours, was suffered by roughly 1,449 people near George. Power was also lost at homes near Sunland Estates, north to White Trail Road and south to Roads 5 and 6.

And about 2:15 p.m., north of the former Larson Air Force Base off Road 10, a tree blew into a line, resulting in a one-hour outage for about 155 people.

Then from 5:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., a loose wire caused an outage for about 442 people east of Royal City.

The last outage of the day for about 120 people was caused by a power pole leaning in Road 11 S.W., resulting in power being turned off about 9:40 p.m. for repairs.

Ten Avista customers in Othello had their power restored yesterday.