Hundreds lose power due to high winds

Approximately 700 Flathead Electric Co-op members lost power after high winds brought down power lines in a handful of areas across the county late Saturday morning and into the afternoon.

Co-op spokesperson Wendy Ostrom-Price reported the first outage was reported just before 11 a.m. in the Browns Meadow Road area west of Kalispell. Other outages were reported throughout the day in the Bigfork, Woods Bay, Kila, Marion and West Glacier areas.

The downed power lines that cut Co-op members’ power also sent emergency responders scrambling. Power lines were reported down and arcing near the Glacier Haven Inn on U.S. 2, where lines also reportedly fell across the railroad tracks.

Ostrom-Price said the number of members affected was relatively low compared to the Co-op’s total membership of roughly 48,000.

“It’s kind of just scattered but, knock on wood, it’s so far had a fairly minor impact,” she said.

By shortly after 6 p.m., only 40 members remained without power.

“We’ve made good progress,” Ostrom-Price said.

According to a Kalispell police dispatch log, the high winds blew down a tree on Second Avenue East shortly before 1 p.m. The tree landed on a truck, but the owner was able to get in and drive out from under it, although the tree completely blocked the road.