Crow leaves thousands without power in Flathead Valley

Nearly 9,000 people were without electric service Thursday morning in the Flathead Valley.

Most of the 12 reported power outages were in the Whitefish area, with at least five verified affecting 500 or more Flathead Electric Cooperative members.

A total of 8,795 members were without power as of 11:40 a.m.

The co-op posted on its Facebook page that at about 12:03 a.m., it had lost part of its Trumbull Creek substation, which powers most of Whitefish and West Columbia Falls areas.

The post also reported a substation crew was on the way to analyze the problem and line crews were on their way to do any necessary load switching to get power restored as quickly as possible.

According to a post on the FEC website, the outage that occurred today was caused by a crow getting into the electrical parts of its substation that feeds Whitefish and Big Mountain.

According to the co-op’s map, another large-scale outage affecting more than 500 people was just west of Columbia Falls.

Another outage was reported just south of Kalispell, affecting less than 10 members. Yet another was verified west of Lakeside, also affecting less than 10 FEC members.

Two outages were reported in the Bigfork area, affecting about 120 members.

To report power outages not shown on the map, call 406-751-4449 or 1-800 406-0762.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.