UPDATE: 500 Remain Without Power After Windstorm
Wind speeds reached 63 miles per hour in Kalispell leaving 10,000 Flathead Electric Cooperative members without power; crews continue working to restore power across its service area from Libby to Essex
By Maggie Dresser
High winds whipped through northwest Montana on Monday night and early Tuesday, reaching speeds of 63 miles per hour in Kalispell and causing more than 10,000 customers to lose power across the region, according to Flathead Electric Cooperative (FEC).
As of Wednesday morning, 500 members remained without power, mostly in areas where challenging and time-consuming repairs are needed. FEC officials expect to have all power outages restored by this evening.
The storm caused the most severe outages in isolated areas west of Kalispell, while widespread outages stretched from Marion to Libby, the most severely impacted community in the service area.
“We have outages in our entire service area from Libby to Essex,” FEC Communications Supervisor Katie Pfennigs said on Tuesday.
“It’s a mess out there,” Pfennigs added. “There’s a lot of damage.”
Line crews, tree crews and patrol crews are assisting with the effort along with mutual-aid personnel who are working across the service area to patrol lines and cut trees. Crews were dispatched to Libby and parts of Marion on Monday night and headed west of Kalispell, Essex, Coram and Hungry Horse on Tuesday. Blacktail Mountain does not have power and will remain out until further notice.
The early-morning power outages affected local businesses, as well, with bakers unable to bake bread at Ceres Bakery in Kalispell on Tuesday. Glacier National Park officials temporarily closed a section of the Going-to-the-Sun Road at the foot of Lake McDonald Lodge until crews could clear the scenic byway of downed trees.
“It’s a very lengthy, challenging and dangerous process,” Pfennigs said.
FEC reminds members to never touch or go near a downed power line.
For updates, visit www.flatheadelectric.com/outage-updates/.