NorthWestern restores power to 23K, estimates 20K still under outages
By Keila Szpaller DAILY MONTANAN
Missoulians were cleaning up debris and negotiating power outages Thursday after a storm and high winds the night before split trees to the ground and uprooted them, dropped power lines and damaged homes and gardens.
Jan Oliver, who owns a home in the middle of Missoula, was clearing branches Thursday afternoon with one tenant, Bryan Bennett, and a couple of volunteers, including one who showed up with a chainsaw.
Oliver said the top of a fir tree cracked onto her home, and she estimated it might have caused a few thousand dollars’ in damage, but she said it only hurt a utility room.
“There’s a little bit of damage, but it’s not too bad,” Oliver said.
The storm lasted less than an hour, but it blew gusts of 109 miles per hour across the top of Mount Sentinel, according to the National Weather Service Missoula.
Sirens could be heard shortly after the wind started blasting across town.
The strongest gales blew through Missoula, although the storm affected southwest Montana and areas as far north as Kalispell, according to the National Weather Service.
Thursday afternoon, NorthWestern Energy said it had restored power for more than 23,000 customers who had lost service overnight. The utility estimated 20,000 people remained without power and some would not have service restored until the evening of July 25.
NorthWestern also said uprooted and downed trees damaged natural gas meters and natural gas lines and advised people to call 911 or NorthWestern at (888) 467-2669 if they smell gas.
