75 MPH wind gusts tear through eastern Idaho, causing damage to local neighborhoods

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – The high winds have caused significant damage to local neighborhood properties across eastern Idaho. Thursday winds gusts topped out at 75 MPH, reaching speeds of a category 1 hurricane.

In Idaho Falls, residents on Sand Creek Street suffered the loss of entire sections of wood fencing.

Around 1:30 pm yesterday, locals noticed the power going in and out. Resident Kayla Hayes stepped outside to get the mail and noticed a few sections of her neighbor's fence were down. Upon checking her own backyard, she found half of her fence on the ground.

"Only part of it was down at first," said Hayes. "But as the day went on, it got stronger winds, and it just tore out the rest of it. It was pretty amazing that it took out eight fence posts."

Hayes' neighbor across the street saw sections of her fence buckling in the wind, only to fall moments later.

Many residents, including Hayes, are paying for the replacement wood themselves. They plan to wait for the winds to subside before starting the rebuilding process.

"We'll be working on it in the next few weeks, working on repairing. We've got to wait for the wind to calm down. And then it'll be digging up the post holes. So it'll be a job," said Hayes. She said they are able to reuse a lot of the lumber they had on the pre-existing fence.

In preparation for the continuance of the high wind speeds, many residents have propped up their wood fencing with other posts.