Highway 33 reopened – Storm cleanup begins for Newdale homeowners

NEWDALE, Idaho (KIFI)—Highway 33 from Newdale to Tetonia has reopened after dozens of power poles were knocked over on Friday evening. Homeowners along the stretch of highway are working to clean up the debris left by the storm.

Teresa Klinger told Local News 8 that the high winds came out of nowhere. She says her husband was outside as the storm blew through the area.

"I was inside in the kitchen, cooking. My husband was outside watering," Teresa said. "I looked out and all of a sudden, I could see this wind was blowing, and he was getting just bombarded by sticks and limbs. So. he ran towards the house to kind of be protected. And all of a sudden before our eyes our power pole just went to the ground."

It took about 3 days for the Idaho Department of Transportation and Rocky Mountain Power to clear the road and restore power.

The storm knocked over dozens of power poles, leaving much of the street stranded and without power.

In the Klinger's yard, two 40-year-old pine trees fell, barely missing the house.

"We just are thankful, it could have been worse," said Teresa.

Several other residents on Highway 33 say it was only a matter of time until the power poles fell.

Painter Kaden Simmons told Local News 8 the area always gets strong winds from the north. Those winds cause many power poles to lean across the road.

"It's just like a toothpick. It's ready to snap," said Simmons motioning to a power pole down the highway.

"There's a lot of things that could've done to prevent that...it's got to be close to 100 poles that fell down," Simmons told Local News 8.

Several people living on that stretch of Highway 33 have said that Rocky Mountain Power was in the area just a few weeks ago. They said they were allegedly checking how stable those poles were.

We have reached out to Rocky Mountain Power to confirm this, and are still waiting for a call back.