Winds knock out power to thousands, topple trees

Around 30 power outages affecting more than 3,000 households resulted from high winds that swept across the Flathead Valley on Wednesday.

According to Flathead Electric Cooperative Public Relations Officer Wendy Ostrom Price, all eight electric crews were dispatched when the winds picked up around 3 a.m. on Wednesday. Ostrom Price said trees blown over by the wind that fell onto power lines caused most of the damage.

Outages were reported across the region, from Libby to past West Glacier, and from Big Mountain south to Swan Lake.

The largest area outages occurred in and around Whitefish with around 1,400 Co-op members temporarily without power on Wednesday afternoon. Another outage on the north end of Columbia Falls affected more than 1,000 members, and near Essex around 350 were affected.

About 250 members in the Echo Lake area also were affected.

According to Ostrom Price, crews managed to get power back in most areas within an hour, but with such a large service area and with so many outages, she said crews would likely be out working throughout the evening. She reminded the public not to approach or drive over a down power line. Outages and downed power lines should be reported to Flathead Electric Co-op at 406-751-4449 or 800-406-0762.

A wind advisory was issued for the Flathead and Mission valleys Wednesday morning for steady winds from the northwest between 30 and 40 mph.

The National Weather Service in Missoula on Wednesday reported a gust of 57 mph near Whitefish and a gust of 69 mph near Polebridge. Gusts up to 74 mph were recorded on the east side of Glacier National Park.

Winds were forecast to decrease after sunset Wednesday.

To find out if your area has been affected by a power outage, visit http://outage.flathead.coop:8181/.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.