Thousands of people in the Flathead region were without power Friday evening after strong winds from passing thunderstorms caused trees to fall onto power lines in several locations.
A power outage map maintained by the Flathead Electric Cooperative showed that as of 9 p.m., about 13,700 of its 58,000 members — about 23.6 percent — were without power.
“We are experiencing widespread power outages throughout our service area. Due to the high winds, trees are falling on power lines and damaging other electrical equipment,” the cooperative posted on social media at 5:59 p.m. At 6:52 p.m., the organization provided an update: “Most of the power outages are due to damage to power lines near Whitefish Mountain, Somers/Bigfork and the Many Lakes area.”
“Please note that during storms like these, numerous trees falling on power lines can also cause many individual outages, making repairs very time-consuming,” the update continued. “Some members should be prepared to be without power all night while our teams work to restore the high number of outages.”
According to the cooperative’s map, most outages occurred in the area around Bigfork, Somers and Whitefish.
Separately, according to the Missoula Fire Department, the Missoula County Emergency Management Agency has advised residents in the Seeley Lake area to limit their movements to “essential travel” after strong winds caused “extreme” damage across the region Friday night.
Photos shared by the department on social media showed large trees downed in front of the Seeley Chicken Coop and Lounge, and a wooden sign with signs listing residents’ names at the intersection of Riverview Drive and Highway 83 was destroyed.
Joshua Murdock covers nature and natural resources for the Missoulian. He was previously editor in chief of the Boulder Monitor in Jefferson County, Montana, and worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer in rural towns in Idaho and Utah.
