UPDATED AT 7:01 P.M.: Power outage strikes several Palouse communities

UPDATE:

As of 6:55 p.m., 332 Avista customers were still experiencing a power outage in Moscow. Power has been restored in the rest of the city as well as surrounding Palouse communities. The cause is still being investigated.

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ORIGINAL POST:

As many as 17,000 residences were without power in various areas of the Palouse this afternoon, though that number was down to about 13,000 just before 6 p.m.

The outages were in Moscow and smaller towns such as Garfield, Palouse, Potlatch, Viola, Troy, Deary, Bovill, Elk River, Kendrick, Juliaetta and others, according to Avista's online outage map.

Avista hasn't said what has caused the outages, but the remaining outages are expected to be resolved by 8:15 p.m. today.