Power outages close schools, impacting thousands in Inland Northwest

NORTH IDAHO — Thousands of people in North Idaho and northeast Washington are without power Thursday morning from a windstorm that blew through the region.

Northern Lights utility company is reporting approximately 12,000 customers near Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, and Priest Lake are impacted from downed powerlines and other damage to the system. The impacts extend to nearly all of Boundary County.

West Bonner School District says Priest Lake is closed Thursday but Priest River and Oldtown schools are open.

The Boundary County School District has canceled classes districtwide, including Bonners Ferry High School

Northern Lights says their crews have replaced 15 power poles so far and have much more work to do.

You can check Northern Lights outage locations HERE.

In Washington, over 2,600 Inland Power and Lights customers are without power near Deer Park, Elk, and Newport. Inland Power’s outage map can be seen HERE.

Any Avista customer’s experiencing outages can check their outage map HERE.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.