Thousands of customers in southwest Idaho were without power Thursday afternoon as strong to severe thunderstorms threatened the region and wind gusts were potentially reaching 70 mph.
The largest reported outages stretched across several communities. In Eagle and Garden City, 1,580 customers were without power. More than 5,300 people in Meridian lost service, and more than 7,000 Boise customers were reported without electricity. In Payette, about 57 customers were also affected.
Idaho Power said 2,260 people were affected by an outage near Nampa as of 4 p.m. Thursday. That outage started at 3:34 p.m. and was suspected to have been caused by an object in the line. A crew was dispatched to the area, and power near Nampa was estimated to be restored by 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
A smaller outage near Gooding began at 3:15 p.m. Thursday and affected 77 people. Idaho Power said the suspected cause was the weather, and a crew was on site. Power near Gooding was expected to be restored by 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
The outages came as strong to severe thunderstorms were expected Thursday afternoon and evening across southeast Oregon and southwest Idaho. The storm threat explains the scattered losses of service across the region, but the Nampa outage stood out for the number of customers affected and the reported object in the line, a sign the weather was not the only issue.
By Thursday evening, crews were expected to have most service back on line, with the restoration timeline suggesting the worst of the disruption would be measured in hours, not days.
