Wind, accident create problems with power

A downed power pole and wind damage from blustery weather throughout the day affected power for roughly 2,500 Flathead Electric Co-op members Wednesday.

Shortly after 6 a.m., a truck hit and knocked down a power pole on U.S. 2 roughly eight miles south of Libby, not only knocking out power but blocking the road. The transformer on the pole also caught fire, and the incident required a detour to be set in place.

Flathead Electric crews cleared the road just before 8 a.m., although there were plans to constrict the road to one lane at several times throughout the day for a new pole to be installed.

The wind storm also wreaked havoc across Northwest Montana, bringing down trees on power lines, including lines that fell across Bierney Creek Road around 2:15 p.m.

Utility spokeswoman Wendy Ostrom-Price said the valley is currently in a unique situation.

“It’s a heavily wooded area, the ground is not frozen and there is no snow for insulation, so the wind just topples trees,” Ostrom-Price said, “especially trees like spruce that have no taproot.”

All of the co-op’s crews were called out to repair the damage. As of 4:30 p.m., power had been restored to all but 412 electricity customers, according to the company’s online outage viewer.